Nicktoons: The Final Countdown
by SOLmaster
Summary: NU story. Four years after their last adventure, Jimmy must reunite the Nicktoons out of retirement and stop DarkEvil LaserPants's most sinister plan and save the present and the future. Read and review.
1. Prologue

_Hey everyone, SOLmaster here with the story you've all been waiting for; the sequel to my Nicktoons Unite story, "The Ultimate Showdown", I now bring you "Nicktoons: The Final Countdown". Unlike the last story, this one is set in a rather different time. Here's the plot to this epic story…_

_Plot: __Set four years after the Nicktoons had their "Ultimate Showdown"; Jimmy bumps into a little blonde boy on his way home from school and is soon attacked by mysterious dangerous robots. He soon learns that DarkEvil LaserPants has returned from imprisonment and has escaped to the distant future with a far more evil plan than his last one. Now Jimmy must reluctantly pull the Nicktoons out of retirement and unite together to stop this upcoming threat with the help of the Time Fixers. But will it be easy with the SpongeCog bots in their way, three Nicktoon members missing, a mysterious robed figure in their way, and a dark secret the little blonde boy is hiding?_

_Sound interesting? Well, if it does, and you liked the last story, please enjoy the first part to this Nicktoons Unite story…_

**Nicktoons: The Final Countdown**

Prologue

In a dark grey laboratory, the future self of Jimmy Neutron was determinedly working on a computer next to a worn out Wormhole Generator. Behind him were his fellow teammates; the future self of Danny Phantom and his son, fourteen-year-old: Darry Phantom; along with the ten-year-old twins, Tammy and Tommy Turner; and the robot clone, SpongeTron 001.

As Future Jimmy worked, Future Danny asked, "So how much longer will it take?"

"Not much now." Future Jimmy answered. "I managed to locate him using the coordinates of his departure. He's…twenty years into the past."

The others gasped at this information. "That's terrible!" Tammy shouted in panic. "He could be doing something right now that could affect the timeline!"

"Which is just what we're trying to prevent." Future Jimmy replied with a smirk as he pushed a red button and a green portal appeared in the generator.

Everyone smiled at this. "All right! You got it!" Darry shouted excitedly.

Future Jimmy then picked up a large device with a claw attached to the end of it. "The same portal should appear near him in exactly eight seconds." He quickly explained. "Once it does, I can grab him with this and I'll be able to easily pull him back here."

"Then fire that thing, and let's bring that cheesehead's square butt back over here!" Darry shouted in determination.

Future Jimmy smiled and nodded, and used his finger to pull the trigger on the device which shot the claw into the portal.

* * *

><p>Twenty years in the past of Amity Park during a dark afternoon, an angered and teary-eyed Danny screamed and ran forward with his fist held in the air. But DarkEvil just stood there, holding a beamsword handle behind his back, waiting for Danny to come into range. But before he could do anything, a green portal suddenly appeared behind him and what looked like a grappling claw shot out and grabbed DarkEvil. This caused Danny to immediately stop in front of him when he noticed this, but the sponge quickly grabbed his arm, either trying to save himself or to take Danny with him.<p>

* * *

><p>"I got him!" Future Jimmy announced as he pushed the button to reel DarkEvil LaserPants in. But suddenly, he was yanked toward the portal. He braced his leg forward to steady himself, but the grappling device kept pulling his arms toward the portal.<p>

"Jimmy, what's wrong?" Future Danny asked, worriedly.

"I'm not sure." Future Jimmy responded as he struggled to hold the device. "I guess he's...putting up a fight."

When Future Jimmy was yanked toward the portal again, Darry quickly rushed over and grabbed a hold of the grappling device. "We can't let him go!" he shouted as he helped pull it.

They both began to struggle from being pulled into the portal, but then Danny rushed over and grabbed a hold of Jimmy and Darry. Then, Tammy, Tommy, and SpongeTron grab a hold of them to help and they all began trying to pull the grappling hook through the portal.

The six all struggled and tugged to pull DarkEvil LaserPants through the portal. It was a wonder why he would be so difficult to pull through- unless someone was pulling him on the other end, but who would want to play tug-of-war for DarkEvil?

After what seemed like a while, they all toppled backwards onto the ground and the grappling chain went flying through the air followed by DarkEvil LaserPants flying out of the portal attached to the grappling claw.

The Nicktoons all lay on the floor from the hard impact as they slowly got up. Darry was the first to immediately sit up and see DarkEvil unhooking himself from the claw.

Darry quickly got on his feet and rushed over to the evil sponge, picking him up by his collar and holding him against the wall.

"Where did you go in the past?" Darry angrily demanded to know. "What did you do?"

However, DarkEvil did not look fazed by this and simply replied, "Stupid kid.", and back-handed him across the face, knocking him to the ground and causing the ghost boy to release him.

The kids gasped at this, but Future Danny just silently growled and clenched his fist. DarkEvil then stood up and glanced at Future Jimmy.

"So you're still alive?" he asked in a cold tone. "I guess things didn't work out the way I wanted to."

"You're darn right they didn't!" Future Danny yelled angrily as he fired an ecto-beam, directly hitting DarkEvil, and sliding him on the ground.

Then he picked him up and repeatedly punched DarkEvil in the face before giving him one final punch across the room. Afterwards, Future Danny went over to Darry and leaned down to him while he was still on the floor after being struck down.

"Are you alright, Dar?" Future Danny asked, helping his son sit up.

"I'm fine, Dad." Darry easily answered with an assuring chuckle. "Really."

SpongeTron walked over to DarkEvil, who was lying against the wall where he landed. He slowly lifted his mask to see he had been knocked unconscious. But couldn't help but wince at the number from the beating he just took, and just lowered his mask back down.

Future Jimmy walked over and talked into his watch. "SpongeTron 911, we need you over here. There's going to be a new inmate at the inexorable prison."

* * *

><p>One year has passed in the future since the day DarkEvil had stolen a Wormhole Generator and escaped from the Nicktoons into the past. From then on, after being retrieved, he was locked away in the High-Maximum Security Prison that exists in the future Retroville, and hasn't been heard from since. Out at the front gate, a couple of SpongeTron bots were keeping watch at night.<p>

They then noticed, Future Danny approach the gate. The SpongeTron in the booth looked up from his magazine and greeted him with a smile, "Good evening, Mr. Fenton. What brings you here?"

"Hello, SpongeTron 336." Future Danny greeted. "I'm just here to pick up something for Commander Jimmy. He's busy at the moment, so he sent me."

"Is that so?" SpongeTron 336 replied until he shrugged. "Oh well. Any friend of Commander Neutron is welcome in."

He pushed a button inside the booth and the electric gate shutdown and opened up, allowing Future Danny to walk in.

Inside the prison, Future Danny walked down the darkly lit hallway to see various cells with bars made of red lasers to prevent any inmate from escaping. When he reached the upstairs third unit, he stopped in front of the last cell.

Inside, the dangerous villain, DarkEvil LaserPants was sitting on the bottom half of a bunk bed. Future Danny pulled a lever next to the cell, causing the lasers on the bars to turn metal. DarkEvil turned his head when he noticed this and got up, walking over to the bars.

"So…it's you." He said in hatred to see it was Future Danny. "Come to get few more swings?"

Future Danny smiled slyly and replied, "Not in the slightest, Master." Then his blue eyes suddenly glow red, signifying who it actually was.

DarkEvil lifted up his mask, showing his eyes widened in shock (and his injuries from last year had healed, but left a few scars). "SpongeCog?" he asked in surprise until he grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him to the bars. "Where have you been?" he angrily demanded to know. "Do you know I've been stuck here in this barnacle heap ever since my last plan failed a year ago?"

"I know, Master." SpongeCog continued to say in Future Danny's voice full of slight fear, "But ever since my last encounter with Neutron, it took a year for my programming to be repaired." He glared, "Without you, I had to rely on 8, 10, and 13 to fix me."

DarkEvil then let go of him and turned his back to him. "Even when I'm free out there, it would seem that the Nicktoons are always there to foil my plans. If it's not SquarePants, it's them. Even challenging them in the past, they've proven versatile."

"If I could advocate, maybe we're going about this the wrong way."

DarkEvil turned back to his robotic servant, raising an eyebrow. "Go on…"

SpongeCog continued explaining, "Why go back in time to prevent what you're determined to destroy? Isn't it important to keep moving forward…to the future? After all, you can't stop what is already happening."

DarkEvil's eyes widen in realization as he gets the idea, and then he smirks as he lifts his mask back down. "Now all I need to figure out is how to get out of here."

"Leave that to me." SpongeCog smirks as he walks away from the cell.

He walks to the end of the hall and reaches a scanner and keypad on the wall. A flash of light appears over his body, and he suddenly transforms into Future Jimmy Neutron with his red eyes. He smirks evilly as he places his hand on the scanner and a computerized voice says, "Access approved.", and he proceeds to type in numbers on the keypad.

* * *

><p>Outside at the front gate, a futuristic hovercar stops in front of the prison, and Future Jimmy steps out of it. SpongeTron 336 notices him from the booth and waves at him. "Greetings, Commander Neutron!" he greets cheerfully.<p>

Future Jimmy walks up to the booth and greets him with a smile, "Hey, SpongeTron 336. I'm just here to give SpongeTron 35 the new cardkey I promised during my last inspection here." He handed the bot a card. "Think you can ask SpongeTron 42 to give it to him. I can't stay too long since I'm on my way to pick up Danny for a drink."

"No problem, Sir." SpongeTron 336 replied. "You're lucky. Mr. Fenton just went inside a little while ago. It'll save you some hover gas."

"What are you talking about?" Future Jimmy asked, now confused. "Danny's at his house right now with Darry and Yuki. I called him before I left."

"Hmm," SpongeTron 336 said, confused as well. "Well, if that wasn't Danny, then who was…"

Before he could ponder any further, a loud alarm was heard from all over the prison, alerting 336 and Future Jimmy. From the intercom inside the booth, a SpongeTron's voice was heard saying, "77 to 336! We have a Code Red situation! Prison break from Cell C39!"

"C39?" Future Jimmy questioned after hearing this. Afterwards, his eyes widen in horror, "No…"

* * *

><p>The next afternoon, in Amity Park at Fenton Works, a familiar boy with black spiky hair with a white streak, green eyes, wearing a green short-sleeved shirt with orange trimming and a hood, blue pants, blue and yellow fingerless gloves, black boots, and a fishing hat; was sitting in the living room. It was Darry Fenton, now fifteen-years-old, and he was lying down on his stomach to reach the height of a baby sitting in front of him. The baby had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was wearing light green trapdoor pajamas and a blue bonnet.<p>

"Come on, Max." Darry said to the baby. "Say 'Darry'. Come on, Maxie. Dar-ry."

The baby, Max, just stared at him and suddenly started giggling which prompted Darry to sigh with a smile and chuckle. They were being watched by a silver robotic owl, wearing a monocle and green vest, sitting on the couch.

"I don't think Mr. Neutron asked you to teach Max how to talk." A girl's voice said, and Darry turned around to see it was a thirteen-year-old girl with blue eyes and short spiky black hair with pigtails on top, and wearing a purple jacket, white shirt, blue pants, and black shoes.

"You're just jealous, Yuki." Darry smugly replied. "Once Max grows up, he'll be telling his dad that the first thing he said was my name…thanks to me."

Yuki chuckled and said, "Wanna know something? I read your fortune through your unfinished cereal bowl. It said that you will soon be forced with a situation more difficult than you have ever endured before, and a dear friend will be in danger unless you're there."

Darry got an odd look from this, but scoffed, "Nice try, Yuki. I'm in difficult situations all the time, and my friends and I have always come out on top." He then played with Max's teddy bear to entertain the baby. "Besides, your fortunes are always bogus."

Yuki growled angrily and marched up stairs. "I'm telling Daddy!" she cried out. "And you know what he's gonna say? 'Darrel Scott Fenton! How many times have I told you to be nice to your sister?'"

"Scott…" Max repeated with a giggle.

"No, Max, no," Darry said, looking panicked. "It's Darry, Dar-ry."

"Sco-rry…" Max said before chewing on his bear.

At this, Darry sighed in frustration. "Man…you have no trouble saying that whenever you hear my dad, but when it comes to saying my first name…"

"Relax, Darrel." Spooks started saying. "I'm sure Maxwell will grow out of it once he gets older. It's just a phase toddlers go through at Maxwell's age."

"Yeah, you're right." Darry said with a nod. "In that case, I better keep teaching Max how to say my name."

But before he could play with Max some more, he heard a beeping sound, and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device which he stuck in his ear. "Hello?" he listened to the earpiece and then replied, "I'm at home, taking care of Max, Dad." As he listened, he got a confused look. "You want me to go where?" then he got a shocked look. "You serious? What's going on?" Max stared at him in confusion while Darry responded, "Okay, I'm on my way."

Darry pocketed the earpiece and ran off, leaving Max alone on the floor. Spooks narrowed his eyes and shouted, "Darrel!"

"Yeah, I know." Darry replied as he quickly ran back and picked up Max before running off again with him.

* * *

><p>Later on, a ghost boy with black spiky hair with a white streak, glowing blue eyes; wearing a blue visor over his eyes, and a white and black jumpsuit with a DP emblem, went into the Ghost Zone with Max and arrived at Clockwork's realm. It was Darry in his ghost form, after receiving instructions from his dad on what to do.<p>

"Alright, Dad said to come here." Darry said as he looked around. "But where's everyone else?"

"Darry?" a girl's voice said as Darry looked to see an eleven-year-old girl with long brown hair with pink clips on the sides of her head, blue eyes, pointed glasses; wearing a white halter top, pink pants that went to her ankles, and blue shoes.

"Tammy!" Darry noticed with a smile as he put Max on the ground. "You're here too."

"Of course we are." a boy, the same age as Tammy, with spiky black hair, blue eyes, buckteeth; wearing a pink hat, white shirt, short-sleeved pink jacket with yellow trimmings, a grey fingerless glove on his right hand, and blue pants and shoes. "Our dad told us to come."

"Tommy's right." A SpongeTron robot with a number 1 on his Krusty Krab hat said. "The creator told me everything already. He said he and your dads are investigating an important manner, and will come meet us in an hour."

"Oh great," Darry said with a frown as he crossed his arms. "Dad sends me here and won't even tell me what this is all about?"

While Tammy gave Max a hug, a voice responded to Darry question, "That's because he knew it would be better if someone else were to explain it."

They all turn to see Clockwork standing in front of his Time Portal. "Clockwork!" Darry exclaimed. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Of course I do." Clockwork answered as he changed to an old man. "Gather around and I'll explain."

The five children walked over and stood in front of Clockwork's Time Portal, and the ghost began to explain, "As you are all aware, the news has already reached your fathers over a familiar threat."

"Who is it?" SpongeTron asked anxiously.

"I will show you." Clockwork explained as he turned into a child. "Behold…your greatest enemy."

He pushed a button on his Time Staff, and an image appeared on the portal of SpongeBob in his bathroom shower, singing happily, "_La, la, la, la, la, la_" as he scrubbed his body with a bar of soap.

"AAH!" Tammy screamed in shock as Darry and Tommy covered her eyes.

"Sorry," Clockwork apologized with a chuckle as he changed into an adult. "Wrong time."

He pushed the button on his staff again, and the image of the portal changed into one of DarkEvil LaserPants, standing in front of a destroyed city that was once Bikini Bottom.

"DarkEvil LaserPants!" Darry, Tammy, Tommy, and SpongeTron both shouted in shock.

"But he's supposed to be in jail." Darry pointed out.

"That means he must've escaped." Tammy realized.

"But why wait a whole year to break out?" Tommy wondered.

"He is not alone." Clockwork answered as he turned into an old man. "I'm sure you remember his closest accomplice."

SpongeTron's eyes widen. "SpongeCog," he answered with a glare. "My evil twin cousin. And he also must be with SpongeCogs 8, 10, and 13."

"Well, we can't just stand around and let him go ahead and complete whatever he has planned this time." Darry said in determination. "We have to go to the past and stop him."

"He's not in the past." Clockwork mentioned as he turned into a child. "He's not in the present either."

The four older kids then got confused looks until Max cooed and said, "Future."

"Max, don't be ridiculous." Tommy said with a look of disbelief. "He's not here, remember?"

"On the contrary," Clockwork started saying. "The little one has a point. There is a future far from here."

Tammy gasped in shock. "You don't mean he's…"

Clockwork nodded and answered, "Yes, the distant future…for now."

"How many years from now?" Darry asked with his fist clenched. "If we go there now, we can still-"

"Not yet." Clockwork interrupted as he turned into an adult. "You can't stop him while he's currently in that time period. The only way to stop him is with patience. For now, you must wait…until THEY reunite."

"'They'?" Darry questioned with a confused look.

_Long prologue huh? I hope you were able to spot some ties to the first story. But the real first chapter will be posted soon. Until then, tell me what you think so far._

_The characters of Darry, Max, Yuki, and Spooks belong to Dannyfangirl_

_The characters of DarkEvil LaserPants, Max, and SpongeCog belong to me_


	2. Chapter 1: Nostalgic Battles

_And here's the first chapter of Nicktoons: The Final Countdown. There are some strange things happening in the future. Is everything the same in the present?_

_Enjoy…_

Chapter 1: Nostalgic Battles

In Retroville, Professor Calamitous, Mr. Crocker, Vlad Plasmius, and Plankton of the evil Syndicate were hiding in an alley after committing a crime. Plankton was riding in a metal sphere that was hovering above the ground, and Calamitous was on a pair of large robotic legs as he held a small dome with a piece of glowing green rock.

"At last we've acquired it." Calamitous said in a proud tone. "The piece of Ectoranium that Neutron was keeping in his lab."

"It seems like only yesterday that thing was part of the meteor that ruined my life." Vlad mentioned in a dour tone.

"Enough jabbering." Plankton interrupted. "Let's just go to your lab and do what we want with the thing."

"Of course." Calamitous agreed. "Once I've extracted the Ectroranium that weakens ghosts, we'll be able to subdue that Phantom child and any other ghosts that stand in our way of establishing victory."

"Not until you get around to establishing a testimony for when you go to prison." Danny's voice called out.

The Syndicate turns and sees Jimmy Neutron, Danny Phantom, Timmy Turner, Tak, and SpongeBob SquarePants standing at the front of the alley.

"I think you bad guys have something that doesn't belong to you." SpongeBob said to the Syndicate.

"If you thought breaking into my lab without tripping the security alarm would be simple, you are erroneous." Jimmy pointed out. "It's improbable even with ghost powers."

"So are you gonna return it and come quietly?" Tak asked.

"Or are we just gonna have to go straight to the butt-kicking?" Timmy added.

"Foolish Nicktoons." Calamitous said as he placed the dome next to him. "Your attempts to stop us will only lead to your destruction. Syndicate Attack!"

"Nicktoons Unite!" Jimmy shouted as the two groups split apart to begin their attack on each other.

Danny flew forward. "The sidewalk has your name on it, Plasmius." he said with a smirk. Then he gave a large kick down at him, and sent him down to the ground. "And now it has your face!"

SpongeBob then upper-cut Mr. Crocker with his karate gloves, and he fell backwards onto the ground. He weakly lifted up his index finger and struggled to say, "I'm going to give you…an F for this!"

Plankton fired lasers from the levitating device he was inside which Danny quickly blocked with a ghost shield before it could hit him.

Tak fired a magical blast from his staff that hit Plankton's machine and it spun around rapidly. Timmy then ran over and knocked it away with his giant green hammer. The device hit the wall and fell to the ground. Plankton quickly got out and had a dizzy look as leaned out of it, covering his mouth as if he were about to vomit.

Professor Calamitous stood facing Jimmy, who held his tornado blaster at him. "You and your team may be a match against us, but we will still be victorious." Calamitous replied as he lifted the robotic right foot.

Jimmy prepared to fire his tornado blaster at him, but the robotic foot stomped on his weapon and held it to the ground. Jimmy struggled to pull it away, but his strength was not enough. Then he looked up and noticed Calamitous pointing a laser rifle at him.

"Any last words, Neutron?" Calamitous asked with a smirk.

However, Jimmy smirked back. "Actually, yes." He replied, and then shouted, "SpongeBob! Danny! Defensive Maneuver 13!"

The two Nicktoons hear this, and SpongeBob reached into his pocket and pulled out his bottle of bubble soap. He took out his bubble wand, but then dumped the bubble liquid on the ground, letting the soapy water spill toward the robotic suit. Once the liquid went under his feet, the robotic feet began to slip.

"What?" Calamitous exclaimed in shock as he struggled to work the controls.

Then Jimmy quickly grabbed his weapon, and Danny flew Jimmy into the air to avoid the soap as Jimmy fired his tornado blaster, blowing the robot down.

Calamitous toppled backwards next to Crocker, Vlad, and Plankton. The dome with the meteor rock rolled on the ground until Jimmy stopped it with his feet and picked it up. Jimmy held the dome with one hand as he stood in front of the defeated Syndicate with Timmy, Danny, SpongeBob, and Tak behind him.

"And that's why it is important to never underestimate us." Jimmy proudly said, "Because we'll always be together to stop you and anyone else who threatens our worlds."

* * *

><p>Everything then began to fade into white until everything came back into view. A much older Jimmy Neutron was sitting at a school desk, wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, a blue tie with his yellow atom symbol, blue pants, and brown shoes. He was leaning on his desk with a bored expression on his face<p>

'_Or…at least that's what I thought._' Jimmy's voiceover said.

Then a school bell rang, snapping him out of his daze. He stood up from his desk and grabbed his backpack as he began to walk out of the classroom.

Out in the school hallway, he met up with Carl, Sheen, and Libby, who were also older now and wearing the same uniforms as Jimmy, except Libby was wearing a blue skirt. Jimmy was noticeably taller with his new age, now standing taller than Carl and Libby, and almost reaching Sheen's height.

"Hey, Jimmy, how about we all hit the Candy Bar?" Sheen enthusiastically suggested.

"Yeah," Carl contently agreed. "They're serving the new Triple Scoop Sundae with chocolate sauce and extra marshmallow bits."

"No thanks, guys." Jimmy nicely said with a weak smile. "You can go without me. I have to get back to my lab and work on some upgrades for Goddard."

"It doesn't actually hafta do with the fact that your thinkin' about your old team again, is it?" Libby asked with a smile. "I saw you in there."

"You were staring at him the whole time?" Sheen asked, looking surprised. "What about me?"

"What?" Jimmy asked in surprise at what Libby said. "That's not true. I told you before, I'm past all that."

"I kinda miss them too." Carl added. "Especially that sponge guy with the square pants. What was his name again?"

"Or is this about Cindy?" Libby asked again.

Jimmy's eyes widen until he quickly shakes it off with a frown and begins to walk away. "I'll see you guys next week."

Carl, Sheen, and Libby stare at him oddly as they watch him leave, while Sheen asks, "Was it something we said?"

* * *

><p>Later on, Jimmy was walking from Retroville High School by himself down the sidewalk. '<em>In case you're wondering, it's really me, Jimmy Neutron.<em>' Jimmy's voice said. '_You may not recognize me since I am now age fourteen._'

As Jimmy continued to walk, he held his hands behind his head as he tried to relax as bit. '_About what was going on earlier, the thing is that there are no Nicktoons anymore. Shocking, I know. The whole truth about it is that four years ago, we just decided that we should go our separate ways and end our universe-traveling careers and live the way we used to in our own universes without any contact with each other whatsoever. "What made us decide that?" you might be asking, well, that information is unfortunately classified._

'_I don't know how the others are doing, but I'm doing just fine. I'm attending my first year of high school and I have become a much more high-level genius than I previously was. I must admit, the adventures I have here on my own are not as spectacular as the ones I had with the Nicktoons, but I'm just fine with that. I'm done with it and I won't be going back anytime soon._'

But while he was walking, something suddenly ran out of the bushes and bumped into him, knocking him down to the ground. Jimmy sat up and groaned in pain as he opened his eyes. "Sorry about that." He said until he noticed the person he bumped into was a boy around the age of ten.

He had blonde hair, and was wearing an orange shirt with blue trimming, a red neckerchief, green and yellow fingerless gloves, brown shorts, and grey shoes. The boy opened his eyes to look at Jimmy, and the genius noticed his eyes were blue. "Why don't you watch where you're going?" the boy rudely said to Jimmy as he held his head.

"I said I was sorry." Jimmy retorted until he stared at the boy agape, "Wait a minute! What are you doing with my hairstyle?" he asked, noticing the boy's blonde hair almost resembled his own hair, except his hair was more coifed down than upward like Jimmy's, and had a cowlick in the back.

"It's my dad's hairstyle." The boy pointed out as he stood up. "Now quit being nosy with me and stay outta my way!"

The boy then quickly ran across the street and went into the bushes on the other side. "Hey kid, wait!" Jimmy called out as stood up. But the boy seemed to be long gone now. "Weird…I wonder if he got separated from his parents or something."

But before he could ponder over this some more, the bushes began to rustle some more as if there were something else in there. Jimmy stared at this and thought, "What now?"

But instead of another child coming out, he was shocked to see a square silver rusted robot that growled viciously at him. He had red eyes, was walking on four legs like a dog that were short in the back and long in the front, had a crooked antenna, an extension cord for a tail, and razor claws on his front hands.

Jimmy gasped as he slowly backed away, but the robot slowly approached him as he snarled viciously with his sharp metal teeth in his mouth.

"Wha…What are you?" Jimmy cautiously asked the bot.

Instead of answering, the robot pounced at him as he growled beastly to which Jimmy screamed and ran out of the way, having the robot slide on the street. The robot sniffed the ground like an animal as if looking for something. But then he turned his attention back to Jimmy and growled viciously again.

Jimmy glared at it and demanded to know, "Where'd you come from? Who sent you here?"

The robot jumped at him again with killing intent. But Jimmy took off his backpack and swung it at the robot, knocking him down onto the street. The robot quickly got up and shook his head as he snarled again.

The genius quickly backed away, but then tripped backwards onto the other sidewalk and fell down. Unfortunately, the robot noticed this and quickly started running toward him with an evil smirk and his tongue hanging out. Jimmy gasped nervously to see the robot charging at him, but he then held his backpack in front of him and pushed a button on the strap, activating the jetpack.

He let it go, and the bag flew toward the robot and hit him, causing the robot to fly at nearby fire hydrant, sending gushes of water out of the top, and knocking the robot unconscious as his antenna fell off his head. Jimmy panted and stood up as he stared and mulled over everything that happened.

Then he saw the robot waking up with a snarl in his voice, but instead of attacking, the robot shook the water of his body and whimpered nervously as he ran into bushes from where he emerged.

"Hey, come back here!" Jimmy shouted as he ran after it across the street.

But once he got to the sidewalk and pulled the bushes apart, he saw the robot had mysteriously disappeared. "That's strange. Where could it have gone?" he wondered. "And who sent it?"

Then he looked across the street, and noticed something watching him from the bushes. It was a small figure in a blue robe, yellow eyes shining out of the hood that was covering his face. As Jimmy stared, mystified by it, the figure then turned away into the bushes.

"And who sent HIM?" he wondered out loud.

_Looks like things are going back to the way they used to be for Jimmy. What will he do now? Please review what you think and the next chapter will be up soon._


	3. Chapter 2: Pink Hats and Fairies

_Here's the next chapter of The Final Countdown. Last time, Jimmy was attacked by a vicious robot, but what could that event lead to next?_

_Enjoy…_

Chapter 2: Pink Hats and Fairies

Later that afternoon, Jimmy arrived home and went inside his lab after being attacked by a beastly robot. Jimmy had changed out of his school uniform and now wore a yellow shirt with a blue atom symbol, a blue short-sleeved jacket, grey pants, white shoes, and a watch on his left wrist and a black wristband on his right.

He walked over to his robot dog, Goddard, and bent down to pet him. "You've been a good boy, haven't you?" Jimmy asked, rubbing Goddard's head as the dog licked him. "Well, you won't believe the day I've had."

Then Goddard sniffed his backpack, and reached his head inside, pulling out the robot's crooked antenna that fell off during the battle. Goddard began to chew on it as if it were a bone.

"That's part of what I went through earlier." Jimmy pointed out as his dog chewed the antenna. "It's peculiar." He then went over to his computer and took a seat in front of it. "I thought if I weren't a Nicktoon, the uncanny events not a part of Retroville would cease to occur, and it hasn't up until now."

Goddard stopped chewing on the antenna and looked at his master. "Grr, arf, arf!" he barked.

"Not you too, Goddard." Jimmy replied with an annoyed look. "I've been telling you and everyone else that I'm past all that. I did miss it at first years ago, but now I'm over it all."

Goddard secretly shook his head in disbelief as Jimmy added, "Besides, I'm sure that robot was nothing. One strange nonstandard phenomenon isn't something to be apprehensive about when I'm no longer a Nicktoon."

But he was then interrupted when a message flashed on his computer screen.

"Hmm, 'incoming transmission'." Jimmy read out loud. He pushed a button on his keyboard and an image appeared on screen of someone familiar to him. "Commander Baker of BTSO?" he asked in surprise.

"That's right, Jimmy Neutron." Commander Baker nodded with a smile. "Long time no see."

"What's this all about?" Jimmy asked.

"There have been sightings of three strange androids appearing all over Retroville." Commander Baker explained. "I thought you should know."

He flashed a picture on screen of the three robots that were causing trouble at the supermarket, knocking down boxes of food and pushing away shopping carts. Jimmy stared in shock at one robot that was muscular and another that was tall. They were all square shaped, but one particular robot that was familiar to him.

"That robot there!" Jimmy pointed out as he leaned closer to the screen. "I saw that one earlier. It attacked me!"

"So you know about them." Commander Baker said. "The thing is our Intel claims the robots destroying everything in their way claims that they're looking for something."

"Looking for something?" Jimmy questioned, raising an eyebrow. "What is it that they could possibly be searching for?"

"We don't know. But whatever it is, we feel that it's best that they not get their hands on it. That's where it comes down to you."

"Me?"

"Yes. We at BTSO want you to track these robots and find out what it is they're searching for. And once you find it-"

"I'm sorry, Commander." Jimmy interrupted with a remorseful look. "But I'm afraid this is one case I'll have to refuse."

Commander Baker stared in confusion. "Why not? We've confirmed that these aren't from our world's science, and we understand that you were once part of an inter-dimensional group-"

"Yes, I was." Jimmy interrupted again and continued explaining. "But that part of my life is over. I retired the team four years ago, and I refuse to take part in any organization of inter-dimensional travel." Then he looked down with a sad expression. "Besides…my teammates are most likely already doing something of their own accord."

"Funny you should mention that." Commander Baker said with a smile. "I understand you used to have a device that would allow you to keep in contact with your team members at all times."

"My Neutronic Recallers?" Jimmy answered, obviously remembering. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, on the day your team broke up, you all kept your devices for commemoration and you deactivated them afterwards." Commander Baker explained. "However, our scientists were able to home in on your Recaller's location, and reactivate the signal- a weak signal might add."

Jimmy's eyes widen in shock. "Seriously?"

"However, we were only able to contact one." Then he became lost in thought, "He seemed very excited when we mentioned you. I told him I couldn't bring him here since we couldn't work the signal to be that strong enough, but he explained that he'd be able to get the right technology off the internet."

"The internet?" Jimmy questioned until he noticed a pink poof of smoke behind him.

He got off his computer and to see the smoke clearing while Goddard hid under a desk. Once Jimmy could see, he couldn't believe who it was he saw. It was a fourteen-year-old boy with brown spiky hair with a mullet, blue eyes, buckteeth, and was wearing a pink t-shirt with a number 14 in the middle, and long grey sleeves underneath, blue pants, white shoes, and a backwards pink hat.

"Man…" he said with a young deep sounding voice as he glanced around. "I'd almost forgotten what this place was like."

"Timmy?" Jimmy said, staring at him in agape.

The teen stared at him with the same reaction. "Neutron…"

Jimmy then smiled happily as he rushed over to him. "Timmy!" he shouted again in joy.

The two lock hands and smile at each other. "I can't believe it's actually you." Timmy said in joy. "Hey, did you get taller?"

"Oh," Jimmy turns to the side and smiles smugly. "You noticed?"

"Of course I noticed!" Timmy shouted in shock as he stands close to Jimmy and compares his height to his own. "You're taller than me now!"

They heard barking and see Goddard rushing over to them, and the robot dog stands up against Timmy's legs barking happily. Timmy bends over and pets him on the head. "Aw, hey, Goddard." He greets warmly. "How've you been?"

Then a pink poof of smoke appeared and three familiar fairies appear from it. "Hi-ya, Jimmy." The pink-haired fairy greeted happily.

"Long time no see, Fudge Head." The green-haired greeted also.

"Cosmo, Wanda," Jimmy recognized since both fairies looked exactly the same as before. "Great to see you."

Then a familiar round fairy baby floated in front of him. "Poof see Jimmy again." He said in a babyish voice.

"Poof?" Jimmy asked until he smiled as he pats the baby on the head. "You really grew up."

"Grew up?" Poof repeated. Though this wasn't necessarily true since Poof looked almost exactly the same, except he was now wearing a red shirt with blue overalls, and a blue and red baseball cap with some purple hair sticking out.

"It's great to see you again, Jimmy." Wanda said with a smile. "You've really changed."

"You said it." Cosmo agreed and asked, "Hey, did you get taller?"

Timmy frowned at this, "Don't rub it in."

"This is all very great and all, but did you receive a message to come here?" Jimmy asked.

"Of course they did." Commander Baker said from the computer. "He was the one I sent the signal to."

"So you have a mission that you want us to go on?" Timmy questioned with a smile. "That means the Nicktoons are back!"

"No!" Jimmy shouted until he stopped. "I mean…it's been so long, and I don't think we could…"

"Stop that, Neutron." Timmy muttered as he nudged his shoulder. "This is our chance. To go on a mission as a team like we used to do. If we can get Danny, SpongeBob, and Tak back, we'll be the Nicktoons again- just this once- and we can stop whoever's behind all this."

Jimmy stood there silently as he thought all this over, he saw Timmy staring at him with his arms crossed as he calmly smiled. Poof floated in front of Jimmy next with a little smile as he said, "Jimmy and Timmy mission! Nicktoon!"

Jimmy then looked away and sighed with a defeated look. "Okay, Commander." He said turned to the computer. "I guess the Nicktoons are on the case."

He then shut off the communication while Timmy and Poof cheered.

Jimmy turned back to Timmy and explained, "I'll have to reset my Neutronic Recaller to be able to travel to other worlds like it used to. Once mine is reset, the others will do the same. Afterwards, we can both gather Danny, SpongeBob, and Tak, then we can go find the cause of all the trouble."

"This will be awesome," Timmy said with an excited smile. "I wonder how much Danny has changed- especially with his ghost powers. What's the mission anyway? That commander guy just said it was urgent and I needed to find you."

Jimmy put on a pair of goggles as he took out a laser and began to work on his Recaller sitting on the desk in front of him. "I'll explain while I fix this up." He answered as he sat down and used a laser to fix his Recaller. "It's pretty simple really."

"Oh man, seriously?" Timmy said in disappointment. "I was hoping for something much bigger like we used to do. Oh well, at least we're the Nicktoons again." But then he turned around and got a sad look. "I just wish it didn't have to end."

_One Nicktoon down, three to go. A mission like this is nothing for Jimmy and his friends, right? Review what you think so far, and the next chapter will be posted soon._


	4. Chapter 3: The Incredible Bot Attack

_I have for you the next chapter of "The Final Countdown". Jimmy is now reuniting the Nicktoons for another adventure. Will he and Timmy find their comrades?_

_Enjoy…_

Chapter 3: The Incredible Bot Attack

A portal opened up in an empty street, out of it stepped Jimmy and Timmy. After Jimmy had reset his Neutronic Recallers to allow them to travel to other worlds again, they went to Amity Park as the first stop to re-recruiting their fellow Nicktoons for a new mission.

"Here we are at Amity Park." Timmy announced as he glanced around. "It doesn't look that different from what I remember."

"Well, we're not here to sight-see." Jimmy pointed out as he began to walk forward. "We just need to find Danny and explain the circumstances of what's going on and that we need him."

"Yeah, yeah," Timmy said with a bored expression as he followed. "Stop a bunch of robots from taking over Retroville. We can handle something like that."

"You haven't changed at all these past few years, have you?" Jimmy said as he rolled his eyes and smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Timmy asked with a glare.

But then, when they finally reached Fenton Works, they gasped in shock to police cars everywhere in front of the building.

"You think something's wrong?" Timmy asked nervously.

"Only one way to find out?" Jimmy replied as he rushed past the blockade and ran up the steps to the front door.

"Danny?" Jimmy called out once he got inside Fenton Works with Timmy following him. "Danny!"

"Yes?" a girl's voice responded.

The two boys turn to see it was not Danny, but a sixteen-year-old girl with long black spiky hair tied in a long ponytail reaching down to her waist, blue eyes; wearing a blue camisole with a hood, a red bandanna, purple bellbottom pants, and red slip on shoes.

"You're not Danny." Timmy pointed out.

But Jimmy stopped him as he raised an eyebrow, still staring at the girl. "Wait a minute…Danielle?"

Danielle gasped in shock. "Jimmy? Timmy?" then she smiled, covering her mouth as if she were about to cry. "Is that really you?"

"That's right, Dani." Jimmy nodded with a smile. "We-"

But he was interrupted when Dani rushed over and gave him a really tight hug much to his surprise.

"I can't believe it's really you!" Dani shouted in joy as she hugged him. "It's been so long, how have you been?"

Jimmy continued to stand in shock as he began to blush while slowly returning her embrace. "Uh, I…I mean…"

Timmy narrowed his eyes dully as he said, "I can see you haven't changed at all these past few years either."

Finally, Dani let go of the genius and his hands as she looked up at him since he stood taller than her now. "Well, I think you have changed, Jimmy. By the way, did you get taller?"

Jimmy looked away with a nervous chuckle and smile. "Heh, heh, yeah…I'm pretty tall now."

Then Timmy pulled the two apart and began to ask, "Okay, enough of that. Listen, Danielle, we're looking for Danny. This is important."

"Oh…" Dani suddenly got a sad expression as she looked away. "Well, the thing is…"

But before she could explain, a voice shouted from another room. "Hey, what's going on out there?" They all turn their heads to see Jack Fenton walking out of the kitchen. "Is he back?"

But then his eyes widen to see the three teens in the room, staring at him. Jack narrowed his eyes and sternly said, "Alright, missy, you know this is not the time to be having friends over."

"Mr. Fenton, don't you remember us?" Timmy asked.

"We're Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner." Jimmy explained, pointing at himself and Timmy.

Jack stared in uncertainty until his eyes widen in remembrance. "Wait a minute…I remember you two." He smiled. "You were just little tykes the last time I saw you."

Jimmy and Timmy both chuckle at this along with Dani. "Jimmy, right?" Jack asked as he pointed at the genius. "Did you get taller?"

"Affirmative." Jimmy answered with a nod.

"Hello?" a female voice said out loud as they hear the front door close. An eighteen-year-old girl with black hair, violet eyes and lipstick came into the living room.

"No way!" Timmy said in shock. "Sam, is that you?"

It was in fact Sam Manson, whose black hair was longer and went past her shoulders; wearing a purple shirt with fishnet sleeves on her upper arms connected to purple fabric covering her forearms, a black skirt with a slit that went to her knees, long black boots, and still had her class ring on her finger.

Her eyes widen in shock as she sees the boys, but then she smiled. "Jimmy! Timmy!" then she ran over and hugged Timmy. "I had no idea you both were coming."

Jimmy added with a smile, "Believe me, I had no idea either."

Sam let go of Timmy and smiled at the genius. "Jimmy, it's great to see you. Did you get taller?"

"I've heard." Jimmy answered with a smile and shrug.

"Hey Sam," Timmy begun asking, "Do you know where Danny is?"

Then Sam suddenly had a look of sadness. "Actually…I was hoping to get that answer once I got there." She mentioned.

"What's going on?" Jimmy asked, looking surprised. "Where's Danny?"

"That's the thing." Dani answered, sad also. "We don't know."

Then Jack began to explain, "Earlier this morning, these strange robots suddenly appeared and started making a mess of things. Danny went out to try and stop them and find out what they're up to. But afterwards, he suddenly disappeared along with those robots. He hasn't been seen since so we called the police, and they and Maddie are out looking for him."

"Can you describe what the robots looked like, Jack?" Jimmy asked.

"Well, let's see…" Jack said as he gained a pondering look as he tried to remember. "There were actually three of them. One was big and wide, one was really tall, and another was vicious with sharp teeth."

"I don't believe it." Jimmy said with a look of shock. "Those can't be the same robots."

"You mean the ones that are attacking Retroville?" Timmy asked.

"That's right. But how would they be here? They would have to have the same technology we use to travel to other dimensions."

But then, they suddenly hear a loud crash come from outside. "What was that?" Sam wondered.

"Sam, you and Jack stay here." Jimmy ordered as he and Timmy began to run outside. "Timmy and I will check it out!"

"I'll come with you!" Dani shouted as she followed.

"Be careful!" Sam called after them.

After this, Jack walked back into the kitchen. "You know, I never did figure out when he started calling me 'Jack'." He said to himself with a confused look.

* * *

><p>The three teenagers ran out the front door, but to their shock they saw a large square-shaped robot with large muscular arms, and a light bulb on top of his head. The robot was slowly walking across the street and picking up the police cars and glancing at the ground. But upon not finding whatever he was looking for, he simply tossed the car far away, not minding the destruction he was causing to it.<p>

"13 find Target." The robot said in a gruff and rather dim voice. "Find Target and bring to Master."

As they watch the robot stomp around, Dani had a look of astonishment as she asked, "Is this guy for real?"

"I don't know, but it's just like the robot I faced." Jimmy pointed out. "It's looking for something. I don't know what, but it won't stop until it finds whatever that thing is."

"Well, we can't let that happen." Timmy said in determination.

"You got that right." Dani agreed as a ring of light appeared around her waist, and it went around her body, changing her into ghost form. She still had the same white hair, glowing green eyes, and wore the exact same suit that seemed to adjust to her growth and physical appearance.

The star flinger appeared in Timmy's hands with a 'poof' and he looked at Jimmy with a smirk. "Aren't you gonna say it?"

But Jimmy got an annoyed look. "Timmy, now's not the time…"

"Come on, Jimmy." Timmy begged. "You have to say it."

"Oh, alright." Jimmy finally said as he cleared his throat. "Nicktoons…Unite!"

Then Timmy chuckled as he jumped off the front steps and ran into battle followed by Dani Phantom. But she stopped next to Jimmy and playfully elbowed him. "You still got it." She said before running ahead.

Jimmy chuckled embarrassingly and said, "Yeah…"

When the robot turned over another police car, Timmy began to approach him from behind. "Hey, you big stupid robot!" he shouted getting the robot's attention. "Stop right there before we have to kick your butt!"

The robot just stood there and stared at him until he said, "You not Target. Must destroy human."

He then pounded on the ground, making a crack in the pavement that went all the way to Timmy. The teen gasped until Dani flew him out of the way before a large hole appeared in front of him.

Jimmy ran up to the two and warned. "Be careful, guys. If he's anything like the robot I faced, he's extremely dangerous so don't underestimate him."

"Underestimate that thing?" Dani asked nervously. "Don't you worry."

The robot then ran toward them with his fist held in the air, about to punch them with his giant fist. "Look out!" Jimmy warned as he and the other two dodge the attack.

Jimmy rolled on the ground and took a small device out of his pocket. He pushed a button and a beamsword appeared out of it. Dani fired ecto-beams at the robot as he flinched, but otherwise didn't seem effected by the attack.

The robot growled at her and pulled a streetlight out of the sidewalk as he began walking toward Dani. Jimmy ran in front of him and held his beamsword toward the robot. The robot swung the streetlight, but the genius swung his beamsword at it, cutting it in half and leaving the robot confused.

"Who sent you?" Jimmy demanded to know. "What are you looking for?"

The unintelligent robot tossed the piece of streetlight away, and answered with an angry glare. "Find Target and bring to Master. Destroy humans who get in the way."

But then, Timmy suddenly came over and knocked the robot away with his giant green hammer, sending him into the wall of a building.

"Nice work, Timmy." Jimmy congratulated.

"Thanks." Timmy said with a grin as he held the hammer over his shoulder. "It was too easy."

But then, the robot pulled his arms out of the wall and stepped back onto the sidewalk, growling angrily. "Oh man," Dani groaned. "There's no stopping this guy."

But suddenly, a blue figure dropped from the top of the building and landed between them and the robot. Jimmy's eyes widened as he recognized it as the mysterious figure in the blue robe he saw back in Retroville.

"What are you doing?" Dani frantically asked. "Get back! It's dangerous!"

But the mysterious figure stood there silently, not even acknowledging them. The robot then charged at the figure with his arms held out, roaring angrily. Then to the three's surprise, an extra pair of arms came out of his robe, except they were thin mechanical arms with pincer-like hands. They placed themselves on the ground and lifted the figure off the ground as the figure used his sleeve-covered arms to throw small device on the ground by the robot that let out a wave of electricity, shocking the robot.

"How'd he do that?" Timmy wondered as he stared in awe.

Once it stopped, the robot got up with an exhausted look and said, "Feel so weak. Must go…"

Then he punched a nearby car with his large fist, causing it to explode which engulfed the four. When the flames and smoke died down, it turned out Dani had grabbed a hold of Jimmy and Timmy and turned them intangible to protect them from the deadly explosion. Once it was safe, Dani turned them solid, and Jimmy ran over and looked around to see that the robot escaped during the blast.

He turned his attention back to the mysterious figure, who also somehow survived the explosion, and see him use one of his robotic hands to turn the handle of a fire hydrant and shoot water at the flames from the car.

"Hey, you!" Jimmy called as he approached him. "We appreciate the help, but who are you?"

Instead of answering, the figure turned his head toward Jimmy and glared from under his hood. Then he used his robotic hand to grab Jimmy by his wrist and toss him away onto the ground.

"Jimmy!" Timmy and Dani shouted as they ran up to see if he was okay.

The mysterious figure then quickly ran away, unknowingly dropping an item from under his robe. Jimmy groaned in pain as he sat up, and he opened his eyes to see the mysterious figure was gone.

"I wonder what was up with that guy." Timmy said as he helped Jimmy stand.

"Should we try to find him?" Dani asked.

Jimmy then looked ahead to see what the figure left behind, and then ran over and picked up. It was a small beige book with a blank cover.

_Another robot beaten, but who's the strange figure that dropped the book. Will it hold the key to figuring out this mystery? Please review what you think so far, and wait for the next chapter._


	5. Chapter 4: Just Like Clockwork

_Enjoy the next chapter of "The Final Countdown", where we will get more heroes who will aid in the fight against the new threat._

Chapter 4: Just Like Clockwork

After the defeat of the second dangerous robot and the aid of the mysterious figure with two extra robotic arms in the blue robe, Jimmy took custody of the small book the figure had unintentionally dropped and curiously stared at the back and front of the cover.

"What have you got there, Jimmy?" Dani asked as she ran up to him, changing into human form.

"That guy dropped this." Jimmy explained as he showed her the book.

Timmy ran over to them with a small object in his hand. "Check this out. This is the thing that guy used to beat that robot."

"Let me see that." Jimmy said, taking the device which was just a singed marble. "I once invented something like this. It releases a thousand volts of energy once dropped with high force. I wonder how he could've possibly made something like this."

"We shouldn't worry about something like that right now." Dani said. "We should look inside that book and see if it can tell us about what's going on."

"Right." Jimmy nodded in agreement.

But as soon as he began to open the book, a flash of light appeared around them, and they disappeared off the street.

* * *

><p>The flash of light reappeared and brought Jimmy, Timmy, and Dani in a dark location. "What's going on?" Dani wondered as she glanced around. "Where are we?"<p>

Jimmy looked up to see a bunch of turning gears and pendulums swinging on the ceiling. "It can't be." Then he looked around in shock. "This can't possibly be-"

"My realm?" Jimmy turned to see Clockwork standing behind them. "Yes, it is."

"So you really brought us here into the Ghost Zone?" Timmy asked in surprise.

"Of course." Clockwork said as he turned into a child. "But it wasn't just for a visit. You were brought together for a reason- for Time Fixer purposes."

"Time Fixer." Jimmy repeated as he thought to himself. "I haven't heard that title since the time we-"

"Jimmy!" a girl's voice cried out, and to the genius's surprise, Tammy ran up to him with a large smile on her face. "It's really you!" she hugged his legs, "The Jimmy from the past! You look different since the last time I saw you. Did you get taller?"

"Of course he got taller." Tommy answered as he walked up to her. "It's been four years in his timeline since he came here."

"I know that!" Tammy shouted back. "I just wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming."

"I wish you were dreaming cuz you in love with Jimmy is totally gross."

"That's not true!"

"Yes, it is!"

"Guys, cut it out!" Darry shouted as he ran over to them. "Now's not the time to be arguing."

"Darry!" Timmy shouted in joy. "How's it going, man?"

When Darry acknowledged him, he smiled big and chuckled, "Gnarly, Tim!" he shouted excitedly as he and Timmy high-five. "Where's my dad from the past? I've been waiting to see him again."

"Well…" Timmy stuttered, unsure how to explain. "You see, about that…"

Then SpongeTron walked over while carrying baby Max in his arms. "Hey guys, we better get to letting Clockwork tell us what's going on." He suggested.

"You're probably right, SpongeTron." Jimmy agreed. "The sooner we know what's going, the better."

Jimmy, Timmy, and Dani stand ahead of Clockwork with Darry, Tammy, Tommy, and SpongeTron joining him, along with Max who tried to climb up Jimmy's leg.

"Jimmy Neutron," Clockwork began explaining as he turned into an old man. "I believe there have been some occurrences in your timeline."

"That's right." Jimmy said with a nod. "The same robots that have been invading Retroville have been in Amity Park as well."

"Do you know who they are?" Dani asked the ghost.

"We know who it is you're talking about?" Tammy answered. "They're SpongeCogs 8, 10, and 13."

"SpongeCogs?" Timmy questioned.

"That's right." SpongeTron answered. "They were created by the notorious DarkEvil LaserPants. My evil twin cousin, SpongeCog 1, is the leader of them. He's just as evil as his creator."

"DarkEvil LaserPants?" Jimmy, Timmy, and Dani all shouted in shock.

"He's back?" Jimmy asked in shock.

"But how?" Timmy asked. "The last time we fought him; he disappeared and never came back."

"That's because we pulled him back from the past." Darry explained. "When we brought him back here into the future a year ago, we locked him up.

"But SpongeCog broke into the prison and escaped with him." Tommy added while Max blew a raspberry.

"But now that you guys are here, you can help us beat him." Darry said to the Nicktoons. "Clockwork told us he was ten years into the distant future, so all we have to do is-"

"I said he was in the distant future," Clockwork interrupted. "But I didn't mean that's where you would be going."

Darry looked confused. "But you said-"

"The distant future?" Jimmy questioned as what he heard. "Is this true?"

"Yes, it is." Clockwork explained as he turned into a child. "But he's not there anymore." They all gasped in shock as the ghost continued explaining, "In the future, he found the one thing that could give him what he wants. But unfortunately, it's missing a few parts. These two items can only be found in the past. So he went there and is now hiding out while he sends his robotic servants to find it."

"So they were looking for something." Jimmy realized. "What are these items?"

"That I cannot say." Clockwork told Jimmy. "Once you have found the first item, it'll all start to make since. However, it is crucial that you find the last item before he does. Otherwise, it'll all be over after that."

Jimmy and Darry both nod in understanding. Then Dani asked, "Do you think Danny knew about this stuff before he went missing?"

"Missing?" Darry questioned as he franticly turned to Jimmy, "What do you mean Dad's missing?"

"I'm sorry, Dar." Jimmy apologized as he placed a comforting hand on the ghost boy's shoulder. "Once we get in contact with SpongeBob and Tak, we'll search for him along with everything else."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible." Clockwork mentioned as he turned into an adult. "Like Danny Phantom, SpongeBob SquarePants is missing under the same circumstances. As for Tak, I can't say for certain. He left his world as soon your Recaller activated."

SpongeTron gasped at the disappearance of his creator while Timmy shrugged at the latter. "He never was a patient shaman." He muttered.

Jimmy then got a determined look and said, "Even so, we still have to get back to our time and stop whatever DarkEvil is planning to do. During which, we may even be able to find Danny and SpongeBob."

"Darry and the others will assist you." Clockwork told him as he turned into an old man. "Your cooperation will serve well for both timelines."

Dani looked at the kids and said with a smile, "Well, we're glad to have you for help."

Darry grinned with a chuckle, Max clapped his hands and giggled, Tammy sighed as she smiled at Jimmy, and Tommy rolled his eyes in annoyance at his sister.

"Darry!" a girl's voice called out, and they all turn to see Yuki and a seven-year-old girl with dark skin, green eyes, brown hair tied in long pigtails with a white daisy on the right side of her head, lavender face paint over her eyes, and wearing a yellow top with one strap over her left shoulder, and a brown loincloth.

"Yuki, Kida," Darry asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were all going on another adventure?" Kida asked, looking disappointed. "I thought we were friends?"

"Sorry, little ones." Clockwork told the girls. "This mission is for experienced Time Fixers only."

When he turned away, Yuki said, "I guess this means we're here to wish you good luck. And to tell you I was right after all, Dar!"

"Yeah, yeah, I guess you were." Darry said in an annoyed tone. "But like I said, my friends and I will be able to handle it. Just you wait."

"I know you and Tommy can, Darry." Kida said as she gave a small wave. "Mr. Neutron is gonna say so too."

"Neutron?" Jimmy, Timmy, and Dani both question to each other.

Right after that, Future Jimmy stepped into Clockwork's realm and looked at the young girls. "I told you two to stay in the Specter Speeder." Then he turned his head to see his past self along with Timmy and Danielle. "Well, this is a surprise."

"Commander Neutron, what are you doing here?" Darry asked.

"I'm just here to see you children off while your fathers are staying back at HQ just in case LaserPants decides to come back." Then he looked at Darry. "Your dad wanted me to let you know to contact him once you get to the past." Then he glanced at his past self. "Did I really get taller at that age?"

Jimmy slumped over as he rolled his eyes, and Darry nodded, "Yeah, okay, I promise we'll be careful."

Then Future Jimmy walked over to his past self. "And Jimmy…a little word of advice between two geniuses." he got a serious look. "If the situation ever calls for it, don't hesitate to use it. Even if you fear the results will overwhelm you, your new intensification will be able surpass it as long as you still have your determination."

He placed a hand on his shoulder, and Jimmy stared, knowing just what it was he was talking about while the others stared in confusion. Jimmy then narrowed his eyes and nodded in answer.

Future Jimmy smiled and winked before walking away. But then he stopped and picked up Max. "And you, young man, are going with your mother where it's safe."

Max then began to cry and hold his arms out, obviously wanting to go with the Time Fixers and Nicktoons. Timmy smirked and elbowed Jimmy. "Guess you hang around Danny too much." He teased.

But then, Darry quickly went over to the baby and said in a friendly voice, "Don't worry, Maxie. We'll be back before you know it."

Max calmed down a bit as his eyes water. "Sco…rry?"

"It's still Darry, but we'll talk about that later." Darry corrected until he smiled again and ran off to his friends.

Clockwork smiled at the formed group and pushed a button on his staff. "Time out!" a form of light appeared around them, and they disappeared while Kida, Yuki, Future Jimmy, and Max waved at them for luck.

_Two sets of Nicktoons for the price of one. What could be the two things they need to get before DarkEvil does, especially the last one? Please review what you think so far and the next chapter will be posted soon._


	6. Chapter 5: Lie Awake

_Here's the next chapter of "Nicktoons: The Final Countdown". Last time, Jimmy, Timmy, and Dani got the Time Fixers on their team. How are they getting along now?_

_Enoy…_

Chapter 5: Lie Awake

When Jimmy, Timmy, Dani, and the new aid from the future Nicktoons; Darry, Tammy, Tommy, and SpongeTron, arrived back at Amity Park, it was almost dark. They went into Fenton Works and discussed further plans to try and stop whatever DarkEvil was planning with the use of two important items. With no idea so far, they decided to get some rest after the long day they all had. Maddie wasn't sure about having so many kids staying at her house while her son was missing, but upon seeing her future grandson staying also, she immediately changed her mind.

Tammy stayed with Danielle in her room, Tommy and Timmy stayed in the guest bedroom up in the Op-Center, and SpongeTron made himself at home down in the basement.

Jimmy and Darry together stayed in Danny's bedroom. Darry offered Jimmy the use of the bed, but the genius insisted that he take it instead and that he would still be comfortable on the floor.

"Hey Jimmy?" Darry asked as he lay on the bed with an uncharacteristically depressed look on his face. "Is it really true, about what Clockwork said? That my dad is really missing?"

Jimmy seemed surprised by the sudden question. "Uh, well…Maddie did say he left somewhere and…"

"He hasn't come yet." Darry continued in the same tone. "Dad would never let himself be captured so easily." He sat up and shouted angrily, "It's obvious that he's danger! And we can't just sit here when he and SpongeBob need our help! It has to be DarkEvil LaserPants! He must be holding them hostage!"

"Darry, calm down!" Jimmy quickly shouted over him. "I know Danny and SpongeBob need our help. I'm just as concerned about saving them as you are. But even if that's truly the case, we don't even know where they are. Not to mention, it would be completely reckless to go in there without so much as a plan to ensure our own safety, otherwise, we'd just end up like them."

Darry just sat there in a daze as he listened to Jimmy's words. "I know you're worried about your father; and so am I since he's one of my best friends." Jimmy said in a comforting tone. "And this may not sound like much, but you should try to have a little more faith in someone like Danny. It's been a long time, but if I remember correctly, he was never one to stay in danger for too long. He always managed to escape whatever predicament he landed himself in."

At this, Darry finally smiled and chuckled as he lied back down on the bed. "That's true. Dad always told me about all the dangerous stuff he used to do when he was my age. He said that he even had to save your butt a couple of time before."

Jimmy gave an embarrassed chuckle as he scratched his head. "Well, it WAS only a couple of times."

"I guess if Dad is in trouble, he can take care of it. And if he's with SpongeBob, he will definitely be okay."

"That's true. If SpongeBob is any stronger than he used to be, he'll be alright. SpongeTron knows this as well. He told me he knows how skilled SpongeBob is, so he knows he'll get back alright."

"Yeah," Darry said with a nod. "And who knows? He might be on his way back right now." Then he yawned and turned on his side. "I guess I'll get some sleep now."

He reached over to the nightstand and placed his fingers on the lamp switch. "And Jimmy?" Darry said with a smile. "Thanks."

Jimmy made a small smile as Darry switched off the light, leaving the room dark for the two to go to sleep.

* * *

><p>A couple hours later, the room was still dark and Jimmy was lying awake on the floor; his arms tucked behind his while his head was resting on a pillow and a blanket covering his body. He looked up to see Darry sleeping soundly on the bed with his arm hanging over the edge and mouth wide open, letting out drool on his pillow. With the silence of the rest of house, he guessed everyone else was asleep as well and he was the only one still awake.<p>

He looked to his right to see his backpack lying right next to him. Unable to try and fall asleep, he sat up and reached inside, grabbing the book he found earlier and a tiny flashlight. Jimmy then turned on his front and turned on the flashlight, aiming it down on the book, hoping the small brightness wouldn't be enough to wake his roommate. He then opened the book and began to read the contents inside.

'_Platform._' Jimmy read in his thoughts to see the word scribbled on the top of the page. He read on the see more handwriting written across the page. '_A mechanism capable of altering the nature of any universe's-_'

Then he gasped, and momentarily stopped reading to himself, and his eyes widen in shock at what he saw.

He aimed his flashlight straight at the book and looked closely at the contents as he began to speed read all the handwriting. As Jimmy flipped through the pages, reading every bit of handwriting written down, he saw small schematics hand drawn on the pages with little notes written next to it that Jimmy paid close attention to as well. Jimmy continued to read as his forehead began to sweat, realizing to his horror just what it was that the book was describing.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in a dark room underwater, DarkEvil LaserPants was sitting in a chair in front of a familiar looking computer and seemed to be sulking as he lay back against the chair.<p>

SpongeCog walked up behind him and said, "The prisoners have been fed, Master. It's a good thing I'm a robot, because I wouldn't dare touch that side of slob they serve at the Chum Bucket."

"Silence yourself, SpongeCog." DarkEvil said in an angered tone. "Can't you see everything's falling behind schedule?"

"My apologies, Master." SpongeCog said in a sincere voice. "I know what you mean. 8, 10, and 13 have yet to return with the goods." Then he glared, "And so far, two out of three have come back with nothing but malfunctions as always!"

DarkEvil stood up, pointing a finger at SpongeCog. "This is your fault as well. You're in charge of those useless bunches of bolts. And if they don't bring it to me, this failure will all be on your head."

SpongeCog chuckled nervously and responded, "Don't worry, Master. We did capture the most likely adversaries that would get in our way." Then he smirked evilly. "Not to mention, we already have the weapon."

DarkEvil calmed down a bit and turned back around. "I suppose you do have a point. If things keep going smooth…everything will be complete…as soon as we get that Target."

* * *

><p>In the morning of Amity Park, everyone in Fenton Works had woken up. Timmy, Tommy, and SpongeTron were watching TV, while Tammy and Darry were eating pancakes in the kitchen that Maddie had prepared.<p>

Dani had walked into the kitchen and noticed a certain genius nowhere around, "Hey Darry, have you seen Jimmy?"

"He's still sleeping upstairs." Darry answered as he took a mouthful of pancakes. "I tried to tell him it was morning, but he just wouldn't wake up."

Timmy heard all this from the living room and reluctantly got up. "I'll get him." He said as went upstairs.

Dani walked back into the kitchen. Tommy then grabbed the TV remote and changed the channel. But SpongeTron tried to grab the remote from him. "I wanna watch 'Ocean's Channel 13'." The robot said.

"We're not watching a fish documentary." Tommy pointed out as he held the remote out of reach.

"It's my turn to pick the station!" SpongeTron shouted angrily as he stood on the couch to reach the remote.

"Cartoons are the most important things to watch!" Tommy shouted as he held the remote as far away from SpongeTron as he could.

"It's Spring Time for the herring!" SpongeTron furiously yelled as he jumped up.

But Tommy rolled off the couch, causing SpongeTron to fall flat on the cushion. But the robot quickly got up and chased after Tommy, the latter continued his game of Keep Away with the remote as they argued over which station to watch.

Still eating breakfast at the kitchen's front window counter, Tammy noticed Darry pouring more and more syrup on his pancakes.

"Do you have to use that much syrup?" Tammy asked disdainfully.

"Who says I can't?" Darry asked with a teasing smile. "Besides, it tastes better."

"It tastes sticky, that's what it is!"

"Blah, blah, blah! I'm not listening!" Darry shouted over her. He stuffed the gooey pancakes in his mouth and talked as he chewed, "I too bushy eating!"

SpongeTron finally caught up with Tommy and jumped on top of him, grabbing a hold of the remote. But Tommy refused to let go and they both tugged back and forth on the remote.

The front door had opened, and Sam came in, shocked to see the descendants of the Nicktoons; Tommy and SpongeTron wrestling on the ground for the remote, flipping channels on the TV as they pushed random buttons while tugging the remote; and Darry and Tammy arguing over syrup quantities. "Did I miss something yesterday?" she simply asked, raising an eyebrow.

* * *

><p>Timmy walked upstairs into Danny's room, and saw Jimmy on the floor fast asleep with his body sprawled out over the blanket.<p>

"Neutron!" Timmy called out to wake him. "Wake up! It's morning!"

Jimmy soon opened his tired eyes and sat up. "Timmy?" he asked in a groggily tone until his eyes widen and speaks in his normal voice, "Pukin' Pluto, what time is it?"

"It's almost 10:30." Timmy answered as he crossed his arms. "Everyone else is downstairs. We were wondering how long it would be until you woke up."

Jimmy sat there dumbfounded until he reached under him and pulled out the small book he was looking at last night. "Timmy, I need you to gather everyone in the living room." He instructed. "It's an important matter. I'll be downstairs in a few minutes."

"Important huh? Sure thing, Jim." Timmy said with a nod. "Don't be too long again."

_It looks like Jimmy now has some new information to share with everybody. Will they finally have what they need? Please review what you think so far and the next chapter will be posted soon._


	7. Chapter 6: Platform

_Here's the next chapter of "The Final Countdown". Last time, Jimmy discovered something in the book they found. Now it's time to share it with the others…_

_Enjoy…_

Chapter 6: Platform

Later that morning, Timmy told Danielle, Darry, Tammy, Tommy, SpongeTron, and Sam the news and they all gathered into the living room. They gather around onto the sofa and waited till Jimmy arrived. Eventually, the genius came from upstairs with the small book in his hands and stood in front of everyone.

"So, what's this all about, Jimmy?" Tommy asked, looking uninterested.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's important." Tammy added while Tommy glared at her.

But then Dani intervened and dully said, "How about letting him get to it?"

Jimmy chuckled nervously and said, "I'm sorry to keep you all waiting. But I've discovered something last night that may have connections to our battle with the SpongeCog bots and with DarkEvil LaserPants." He held the book into their view. "As some of you may know, this book was acquired in our last battle with a SpongeCog bot and once I open it, it'll hold the contents I'm talking about."

"So open it already!" Tommy yelled impatiently, earning him a glare from Timmy and Tammy.

Jimmy frowned as he opened to the first page of the book, showing everyone the page full of handwritten text.

"'Platform'?" Dani questioned as she read the word at the top of the page. "What's a Platform?"

"Platform is a machine." Jimmy answered as he pointed at the text written in the book. "A machine created by the one who wrote this book. And apparently this book was written to act as an instruction manual in order to operate a machine like this." He turned a page and began to explain the details out loud, "Like these operate the device which are connected to the modem allowing for the correct reaction that would be needed to-"

"Get right to the point of telling us what it does!" Tommy yelled again which Timmy elbowed him for, "Ow."

None the less, Jimmy complied and turned a page to the book to show a hand drawn schematic of a satellite connected to the tip of part of a machine. "This may be hard to comprehend, but this device- or Platform as it is known- has the technology to alter the nature of any universe."

"And what does that mean?" Tommy asked as everyone narrowed his eyes at him.

"It means that it can change the world to whatever the operator wants just by sitting right here at the controls." Jimmy explained as he pointed to another picture of a chair with a dome overhead in front of a couple screens and controls. "Like say you wanted a world made entirely candy and soda- or a world where everyone lived under your command with no one questioning you."

"Whoa," Darry said in awe over the explanation. "That machine can really do all that?"

"That's right." Jimmy nodded as he pointed to the previous picture. "It would seem this part over the control area is designed to keep the operator safe from any of the changes made to the world once Platform is operated. You can alternate history with this device and you still would be safe at the controls of Platform."

Dani looked speechless by this. "That's…incredible."

"It's remarkable." SpongeTron added as he stretched out his arms and grabbed the book from Jimmy. "This inventor is a genius to find the technology to make a machine like this. It can literally change the world."

Then Tammy's eyes widen. "That's it!"

Tommy looked at her in confusion. "What's it?"

"DarkEvil has this machine. And now he's making the SpongeCog bots look for this book." Tammy explained. "He must want this book to know how to work the machine to change the worlds to what he wants it to be."

"You're probably right, Tammy." Jimmy said as he nodded in agreement. "Clockwork said that DarkEvil had the one thing to get him what he wants, but he still needs two important things."

"Oh man," Timmy gasped as he pointed at the book. "That must be one of them. There's no telling what he'd use that machine to do."

"He can make the world anything he wants it to be." Dani pointed out. "He can change history so he can rule the world or make us his servants."

"That is a possibility." Jimmy nodded in agreement, "All the more reason for DarkEvil to get his hands on this."

Then Tommy snatches the book from SpongeTron and skims through the pages. "It's all the more reason for ANYONE to get their hands on it." Then he closed the book and smiled widely. "A machine that can really change the world to anything you want."

He closed his eyes and imagined himself sitting on a large throne, wearing a large crown on his head. "I can be king, and my first two official rules will be dessert for breakfast every day, and kids like me can do whatever we want whenever we want."

He then imagined himself laughing in triumph as a large crowd of kids cheered with all the candy they could ever want falling from the sky. But his concentration was soon interrupted by the chiding from his twin sister.

"Tommy!" Tammy shouted, getting his attention. "That's not right!"

"Yeah!" Timmy seemed to agree until he smiled and added, "How about instead, the rules are 'there are no rules'?"

"Better…" Tommy agreed with a smile.

"Guys, we shouldn't be discussing Platform like this." Jimmy insisted as he walked over and took the book back from Tommy. "It's obvious that the creator intended for a device as sensitive as this to be used for good." Then he stared at the book with his voice trailing off, "With an invention like this, it can benefit all mankind…"

He became lost in through as he imagined a futuristic city. "It can change the world to exactly what it should be. Scientific technology benefits mankind as intended, and science and math being the answer to everyday problems. And of course, the most prestigious lab in the world for only the best scientist with a genius intellect…like myself."

He then completely zoned out to imagine himself in a white lab coat, standing at a desk to successfully pour a chemical into a beaker with a crowd of famous scientist to applaud him.

Jimmy's eyes widen to see Timmy snapping his fingers in his face to get his attention. "More like a world of boring." Timmy said, after hearing Jimmy absent-mindedly announce his idea out loud.

"I think Jimmy has a point." Tammy suddenly said. "But with something like Platform, it can be used for something better. Like…like-like girls are never appreciated anymore!" she then had a look of determination on her face. "If I used Platform, I can make it so us females can be appreciated and respected for the smarts and superiority we truly have."

"Man," Tommy said as he gave her a dull look. "I thought I heard boring, but that is lame."

"Oh yeah!" Tammy shouted in his face.

"YEAH!"

While Tammy argued with Tommy, and Jimmy argued with Timmy, SpongeTron watched it all with a sigh.

"Gee, this fighting will get us nowhere." Then he turned around and thought to himself. "But that Platform does sound powerful. I wonder if it can be used to make a world where robots like me were the dominant race on Earth."

He then imagined himself in the future where robots were running free, and humans contently tending to their needs such as oiling, polishing, maintenance, and various things that they usually assisted humans with. SpongeTron was sitting in Future Jimmy's office chair, kicked back with his feet on the desk as he sat next to a coffee maker.

"It'd be so great." SpongeTron said, feeling lost in the happy thought. "We'd all be happy and we'd never have to worry about anything ever again."

He imagined Future Jimmy using an electric polishing brush on his head while Darry held a can of oil to SpongeTron, which the robot drank from using a straw.

"No way!" Darry shouted, interrupting SpongeTron's vision. "That could never happen!"

SpongeTron crossed his arms and turned away. "Well, it could."

"Platform needs be used for good; something that can benefit for humans and ghosts- like me and my dad." Darry eagerly explained. "It would be totally gnarly if both the human world and Ghost Zone were merged into one. That way, humans and ghosts can live together as one, and we won't have to worry about invading each other's worlds anymore."

Then he suddenly had the image in his head of the streets of the human world and the eerie green dimensions of the Ghost Zone standing side-by-side of each other; with a human man and a green ghost smiling and shaking hands. But it was suddenly interrupted when SpongeTron complained.

"My idea is way better!"

"More like way creepy." Darry said in a dull tone.

"Yours is creepier." SpongeTron pointed out defensively. "It has ghosts crossing the road in it. At least mine had fresh cans of oil."

"I ain't filling up your fuel gauge!"

While Jimmy, Timmy, Tammy, Tommy, SpongeTron, and Darry continued to argue with each other, Sam stared at it all with a disappointed look on her face.

"Will you all stop it?" Sam yelled, silencing everybody. "You guys should be ashamed! You're all arguing about what YOU want to do with Platform instead of what a machine like that can do for others."

Jimmy and the others all stared at each other as Sam continued on, "I mean, think about it. You can finally give what everyone needs: world peace. And give poor defenseless animals the rights they deserve. What's also important is being rid of all the environmentally dangerous buildings and devices that are hazardous to nature."

But before she could go on, Jimmy, Timmy, Tammy, Tommy, Darry, and SpongeTron went right back to arguing over their ideas on what Platform should be used for while Sam angrily shouted, "Oh, come on!" and joined everyone in the arguing.

After having stood there silently, Danielle just sighed in frustration at having to listen to everyone's arguing while a threat is outside, plotting his next move. She cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted, "EVERYONE, QUIET!"

At this, everyone suddenly stopped arguing and stared at her silently. "Do you think we can get back on topic here? We know what Platform does, so now we just need to find it."

"You're right, Dani." Jimmy said with a nod as he looked at the book. "Though finding a machine like this may not be so easy with DarkEvil possibly holding it- unless we find the original holder of this book."

"You mean that weird guy with the blue robe and four arms?" Timmy asked.

"What guy with four arms?" Darry asked, looking confused.

"I'll explain that later." Jimmy answered. "But yes, he was the one who dropped this book I found. I figure if we find him, we'll be able to get a little more information on this machine."

"Okay, that doesn't sound so bad." Dani agreed with an unsure tone. "But how are we supposed to find him?"

"Well, he only seems to appear whenever we're attacked by one of those SpongeCog robots- he must also have some sort of connection with them."

"Then I guess we'll have to start up a search for that mysterious robed figure," SpongeTron instructed, "and get him to tell us about Platform."

However, Jimmy seemed to have zoned out as he looked at the last page of the book and saw the words, '_Can only accessed by digit security code._' "Code?" Jimmy questioned to himself. "What code?"

_Platform sounds like a wonderful machine, doesn't it? But it looks like the machine has some protection to it. Please review what you think and keep an eye out for the next chapter._


	8. Chapter 7: Old Friend's Arrival

_Enjoy the next chapter of Nicktoons: The Final Countdown…_

Chapter 7: Old Friend's Arrival

Later that same afternoon, Jimmy was sitting on the living room couch, reading the handwritten instruction manual that shows how to operate the machine, Platform, which has the technology to (literally) change the world to whatever the user desires. Everyone else was discussing the other possibilities that they could use Platform for (after they stopped DarkEvil from using Platform to make the world whatever he wanted it to be).

Danielle sat next to him and asked, "So, Jimmy, have you found out anything else?"

Jimmy's eyes widen a bit as he looks to the side with a slightly embarrassed look until he quickly calms down and answers, "Oh, um…yes, actually. It would seem that even if we wanted to, none of us can use Platform- not even DarkEvil."

"WHAT?" the others all asked in shock.

"Why not?" Timmy asked. "Besides, all that mumbo-jumbo in that book, I'm sure someone who's smart enough will know how to operate it."

"That's not what I'm saying." Jimmy tried to explain. "It would seem that the creator made a digit security code to keep Platform from being operational. So unless it's entered, it cannot be accessed."

"You serious?" Tommy asked in shock. "Why would he wanna do that?"

"My guess is probably for precautionary reasons, which is pretty understandable." Jimmy answered. "But the point is without the code, no one can access it- except for the creator who I'm assuming is the only one who knows the code."

"So now we have to find a guy in blue and the inventor of Platform." Tammy recalled with a disappointed look. "And that's not even half of the list of things we still need to do."

"I have to agree, Jimmy." Sam said to the genius. "How are you all gonna do all that? We still need to find Danny."

"I don't know." Jimmy said as he turned around and slumped in disappointment. "Jack and Maddie are helping with that, but…there's also SpongeBob…and Tak…" he sighed. "We need some type of help."

"Hello?" a familiar voice asked as someone walked through the front door. "Mom? Dad? Dani?"

At this, everyone became silent and turned their attention to see it was Danny Fenton standing at the front of the living room with a confused look on his face. He was now eighteen-years-old with longer spikier hair and noticeably muscular arms; wearing a white shirt underneath a blue denim vest with torn sleeves, dark blue jeans, and red shoes.

Once he saw the group, he suddenly smiled and asked, "I hope I'm not missing a party in my own home."

"Danny!" Sam shouted happily as she ran over and hugged him while he stood stiffly in her arms. She gave him a peck on the cheek and asked, "I can't believe you're back. We were so worried about you."

"I'm sorry." Danny replied with a sheepish smile. "It's kinda a long story."

"I wanna hear it." Darry said as he ran up to him. "I was worried about what happened to you too, Dad."

"Darry?" Danny shouted in shock as he stared at the teen. "You're…you're here?"

"He's not the only one who's here." Timmy added as he walked into Danny's view.

"Timmy?" Danny asked, still in shock as he stared at Timmy. "Is that really you?"

"You better believe it." Timmy said with a smile as he stood next to Jimmy, who smiled as well.

Then Danny suddenly grew a smile. "It's incredible." He walked over to them and placed his hands on their shoulders. "I can't believe how much you two have changed." Then he glanced at the teen genius to see he almost reached his height. "Jimmy, did you get taller?"

"It's possible." Jimmy said deadpanned, having frequently heard that question asked lately.

Danielle walked over to Danny and gave him a hug. "Where were you?" she asked as she let go. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Danny answered calmly. "But that's the thing. When I chased after those SpongeCog robots, one of them caught me off guard and knocked me out. The next thing I knew, I was being held hostage by DarkEvil LaserPants."

They all gasped at this. "No way!" Tommy shouted in shock.

"That's terrible!" SpongeTron cried out.

"Why?" Tammy gasped, covering her mouth.

"What happened next, Dad?" Darry demanded to know. "What did he want with you?"

"He didn't say- as much as I wanted to know." Danny continued explaining. "I did manage break out of where he was keeping me…but it wasn't easy, I'm sure you know."

"Well, it must've been easy considering you don't look the way you did last time." Sam pointed out, noticing he did not look worn out or practically dead like when DarkEvil captured him four years ago and he managed to barely escape with his life.

Danny chuckled embarrassingly. "I was a kid back then, Sam. DarkEvil can't pull the same junk on me twice."

"Well, all things considered, we're glad to have you back with us, Danny." Jimmy said with a smile.

"Good to be back, Jimmy." Danny said with a smile as well. "I never thought I'd see you or Timmy again- or Darry and the future kids anytime soon."

"But by the way, Mr. Fenton…" SpongeTron began asking nervously. "Did you, by any chance, see my creator there?"

"Oh man, he's right." Timmy suddenly remembered. "Clockwork told us something happened to SpongeBob too. We figured the same thing that happened to you might've happened to him."

"I was wondering where SpongeBob and Tak were just now." Danny said as he thought to himself for a second before replying, "But I'm sorry, guys. I didn't see SpongeBob back there." Danny now had a guilty look. "If I had known he was taken by that maniac too, I would've tried to help him."

"It's okay, Danny." Jimmy said, trying to hide his sadness. "We may have no idea where Tak is, but if there's a possibility that SpongeBob is being held hostage by DarkEvil, at least with you here, we have a chance of finding where he is."

Dani then held Danny's arms and said in a comforting tone, "And we'll find a way to go help him. Plus I'm sure SpongeBob will be okay till then. He had to have gotten stronger these past few years."

Timmy quietly chuckled and muttered, "I'll believe that when I see it." Unfortunately SpongeTron heard him and punched him in the arm as Timmy winced.

"There is one more thing I'd like to ask you, Danny." Jimmy started saying, "Did DarkEvil mention anything about what he was planning by sending his SpongeCog bots to our worlds?"

"Not much, but I did hear him say one thing." Danny answered as he tried to remember. "Something about getting the one thing that'll give him what he wants, but he'll need to get the Target first."

Jimmy smiled as he held the book. "Then it's gotta be this for sure."

Danny gasped in shock once he saw the book he was holding. "What….what is that?"

"This is a handwritten instruction manual for a device called 'Platform' created by an inventor of astounding intellect." Jimmy explained as he held the book into view. "It has to be that target DarkEvil wants."

"Platform?" Danny questioned in confusion as he sat on the couch. "What kind of invention is a platform?"

Seeing how baffled Danny was by the sudden explanation of what they learned during his absence, Jimmy quickly briefed him everything that has happened so far. However, Jimmy's 'quick explanation' turned into a three hour overview on everything that Jimmy felt was important to go into detail about from his confrontation with the SpongeCogs; him finding the book after he, Timmy, and Dani were aided by a mysterious figure in a blue robe; reuniting with the Time Fixers and Clockwork sending them to help find out DarkEvil's plan; and learning everything about Platform's technology to alter the properties of a single world and the power it holds that could lead to disastrous results if used in the wrong hands.

After his long-winded explanation, everyone who already knew the story were lying around the room with dull expressions with Danny being the only one concentrating on everything Jimmy was explaining.

"…and that's pretty much everything we've learned about Platform." Jimmy finished explaining.

Danny was awestruck by what he just heard. "This…this whole thing is amazing. I never imagined that when we got back together…we'd be faced with this kind of problem."

Jimmy stopped gave an exasperated sigh. "Me neither, Danny." He said in a quiet voice.

Danny began to ask, "So did you find out anything else?"

"Not much." Jimmy answered as he flipped a few pages of the book. "As much as I hate to admit it, the technology used in Platform is far too advanced even for me. But I did notice that some of the designs over the protective area of the operating controls have the same failsafe technology I used in my old Neutronic Mech-Suit to protect me from abnormal situations. I'm sure you remember that."

Danny frowned angrily at this as he remembered the dangerous battle suit Jimmy invented four years ago. "Oh yeah," the ghost boy responded in hatred. "How could I not?"

"How could any of us forget?" Timmy added with the same emotion in his voice, but a little less than Danny.

"But like you said before, Jimmy," Tammy reminded. "How could anyone use Platform with that secret code locking it?"

"A code?" Danny questioned, suddenly surprised. "What code? Is it written down in the book?"

Before Jimmy could answer, Tommy yelled, "Oh man, enough! All we've been talking about is the same stuff over and over again! Let's take a five minute break, can't we?"

"But…what about stopping DarkEvil?" Danny asked. "And Platform?"

"It's okay, Danny." Jimmy said with a shrug. "After everything we've learned today, we could use a little breather before deciding what our next move will be."

Danny did not seem content with the idea, but Darry grabbed his arm. "This'll be great, Dad. You can tell me about all your new gnarly adventures you've had."

When Darry dragged his past dad away to spend time with him, the latter just rolled his eyes, even more annoyed with this idea. But Sam just stood there, staring at Danny with a suspicious look on her face. "Why do I get the feeling that something's not right here?" she asked herself.

_All right! Danny's finally arrived! Will he be able to help find DarkEvil and rescue SpongeBob?_


	9. Chapter 8: Infiltration

_The next chapter of Nicktoons: The Final Countdown is here! Last time, a certain grown-up ghost boy returned, but what's the next move? Also, if you remember the last story, "The Ultimate Showdown", you can recall something here from that story._

_Enjoy…_

Chapter 8: Infiltration

Back at Fenton Works after Danny had returned from being held captive by DarkEvil LaserPants, and they explained everything that they knew to him, Danny was eager to find Platform and its code. But the others decided to hold off on the mission for a while to get reacquainted with Danny and let their brains simmer from all the knowledge they had learned in one afternoon.

"Please, Dad, come on!" Darry begged and pleaded to Danny, who was sitting on the couch with an uninterested stare. "Show me some of your new ghost moves! Teach them to me!"

"I said no!" Danny shouted in annoyance. "Why can't you get that through your-" but he quickly stopped and smiled, "What I mean is, Dar, maybe you should show me what new moves YOU can do. You had to have gotten stronger since I saw you last."

Darry thought this over. "Yeah…I guess that's true. But wait till we fight a SpongeCog bot. I can see you in action and you can see me."

"Yeah, can't wait," Danny nonchalantly said as he stood up from the couch. "Hold that thought."

He walked over to Jimmy, who was reading the manual. "Hey, Jimmy, how about we go out for a bit to catch up?" Danny suggested. "Then in about an hour, we can come back and discuss our next move."

Jimmy put the book in his backpack and shrugged. "Sounds like a plan. Why don't we invite Timmy and Dani to come along with us?"

"Uh, no, because…" Danny nervously said, scratching the back of his head. "…because I think it would be better if it were just us. I mean, the two of us used to hang out a lot when we were kids, remember?"

Jimmy smiled as he thought it over. "Yeah, I remember. I guess it wouldn't hurt if it were just you and me."

"Great," Danny said as he smiled as well and began to walk to the front door. "Well, let's get going, Jim."

As the two began to walk out, Sam called after him. "Hey Danny, you didn't forget, did you?" she told the half-ghost. "You promised to take me on a date tomorrow. Remember?"

"Of course I do, Sam." Danny easily replied. "I wouldn't forget even if every world in the universe were in peril. We'll be back soon."

After he and Jimmy exited through the front door, Sam crossed her arms and smiled. "I'm glad to hear you say that, Danny." Then she glared while muttering, "…because we don't."

* * *

><p>Outside, Jimmy and Danny walked down the sidewalk together as Jimmy began to strike up a conversation, "It is great that we can spend a little time together after being apart for so long. With that mission we currently have going on, it'll be nice to just hang out."<p>

As they passed by the alley next to Fenton Works, Danny responded, "Yeah..." then he suddenly grabbed Jimmy by his arm and tossed him into the alleyway. "It's just great." He said with an evil smirk.

Jimmy winced as he lied on the concrete ground, and slowly turned around on his back, propping himself on his elbows. "Danny?" he asked in a shocked tone at his friend's odd behavior. "What…What are you doing?"

"What does it look like, Nerdtron?" Danny answered in a cynical tone. "I'm just doing what I came here to do."

He grabbed Jimmy by the front of his shirt and threw him against the wall. The side of his body hit the wall, and Danny wasted no time in getting in front of him, and pinning the front of Jimmy's body against the hard stone wall.

"But Danny, this isn't like you at all." Jimmy managed to say with the side of his face against the wall. "-Not like when I knew you four years ago."

"Times change, Nerdtron." Danny simply replied as he opened Jimmy's backpack and reached inside, pulling out the instruction manual for Platform. "And this time…it ends with me winning."

Then he roughly threw Jimmy onto the ground. As Jimmy slowly attempted to push himself up off the ground, Danny stood behind him with an evil smirk. "And if you're lucky, my master will spare you once he gets what he needs. But since you're a genius, you must already know that will never happen."

When he turned around, about to walk out of the alley, a blue ecto-beam suddenly hit him, and knocked him backwards into the alley. The attack came from Darry Phantom, who stood at the entrance of the alley with Timmy, Dani Phantom, Tammy, Tommy, and SpongeTron.

"Well, what'd ya know?" Darry said in anger with his fist glowing blue. "Ma was right."

"Jimmy!" Tammy cried out as she, Timmy, and Dani quickly rush to the fallen genius.

"Dude, are you okay?" Timmy asked as he and the girls help Jimmy stand on his feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jimmy assured truthfully since he was in fact able to stand up on his own. "But the manual…"

They turned to see Danny lying against a bunch of fallen garbage cans due to Darry's previous attack. "Alright, spill!" Tommy shouted to the fallen Danny. "Who are you really?"

Danny looked up at them with a furious expression. "And here I thought I had finally duped you squishies this time around." He then held up the book. "And that I'd be able to leave with my prize."

"'Squishies'?" Tammy repeated until her eyes widen in shock. "Wait a minute! You're SpongeCog!"

Danny's eyes suddenly glow red. "So you finally figure it out, huh?" then a glow appeared around his body and he turned into his true self: SpongeCog 1.

Jimmy's eyes secretly widen, recognizing the robot he had encountered four years ago. He had never liked to talk about his encounter with it in full detail; and especially refrained from mentioning his little affair when he last saw him.

SpongeCog then spoke in his normal voice, "Now if you don't mind, I'll be on my way."

But SpongeTron stood in front of him. "Not so fast, SpongeCog! You're not leaving until we get that book back."

"Oh really?" SpongeCog asked with a smirk as he held the book up in order to taunt them. "Well, squishy-lover, you're not getting it back. If what my master needs is in here, then we won't have to waste our time chasing-"

But the evil robot was interrupted when a blue figure suddenly dropped down and kicked SpongeCog down, causing him to drop the book. Jimmy gasped, realizing it was the same mysterious figure he has seen the last two times he fought a SpongeCog robot.

"Nicktoons Go!" Darry quickly shouted as the Nicktoons charged into the alley with their weapons.

SpongeCog quickly got up as he growled, and crawled over to the top of a trashcan in the back on the alley.

Tommy fired a magical beam from a wand, and SpongeCog ducked away from the blast and jumped on the ground. SpongeTron fired a blaster ray connected to his right arm and hit SpongeCog in the head as the evil robot glared at him.

"You're a mean robot!" SpongeTron shouted at him.

"If I wasn't, I'd be like you!" SpongeCog replied until he was hit a blast of stars from Timmy's star flinger.

Jimmy turned his head to see the instruction book lying forgotten on the floor as the battle against SpongeCog took place. He rushed over to the book, hoping to grab it before anyone noticed him. But unfortunately, the mysterious figure grabbed the book before he could and attempted to run off with it.

"Hey, get back here with that!" Jimmy shouted as he ran after him.

Dani and Tommy prepare to fire an ecto-beam and magical blast at SpongeCog, but the robot turned his arms into electrical plugs and shot an electrical zap at the two, knocking them away. Darry then flew down and delivered a kick in his face, knocking him down to the ground as he crouched on top of him. But then, SpongeCog used his claws to grab Darry and throw him aside.

The mysterious figure stopped in front of the wall of the alley and looked up at it, looking like he was at a dead end for Jimmy to catch him. But his two robotic arms come out of his robe and grabbed a hold of the wall, letting him scale up the brick wall. Jimmy ran over to the wall and stared in agape as he watched the robe figure escape with the book.

But Jimmy glared and reached into his backpack, pulling out his old Tornado Blaster. He carefully aimed it at the mysterious figure and let out large gust of wind at him. The mysterious figure stopped climbing and struggled to keep his claws grasped onto the wall. But it was obviously too difficult with the wind blowing at him. He eventually lost his grip and fell all the way down to the ground. Jimmy winced at this, but noticed the figure made a 'clank' sound when he fell.

SpongeCog deflected the attack from Tammy's jump rope, and then glanced ahead to see the book lying on the ground from when the mysterious figure fell.

Jimmy noticed SpongeCog's intention and tried to rush over. But the mysterious figure's hand popped out of his long sleeve to reveal a metallic four-fingered glove that pushed Jimmy aside with intense force before he rushed over to the book. SpongeCog and the figure reached the book at the same time and both attempted to grab it.

The mysterious figure attempted to look intimidating by having his long extra mechanical arms emerge from under his robe with his claws snapping. But SpongeCog didn't even look frightened by it, so he just laughed and punched the figure in the face, knocking him away and allowing him to take the book.

"Better luck next time, squishies!" SpongeCog taunted as he pushed a button on his wrist which activated a portal and he ran through it.

Darry tried to run after him, but as soon as he tried to jump through the portal, it disappeared and he fell flat on the ground instead. "No!" Darry shouted in anger and dismay as he pounded his fist on the ground.

"What are we gonna do?" SpongeTron asked in worry. "He's got all the secrets to Platform!"

Before anyone else could panic as much as SpongeTron, they all turned their attention to the mysterious figure, who stood up and began to run away. "Somebody, stop him!" Jimmy warned.

When the mysterious figure tried to run out of the alley, Darry quickly flew over and grabbed the figure by the back of his robe. "Alright, tell us who you are?" he demanded until the robe ripped to shreds and the person inside fell to the ground.

They all stared in shock as the mysterious figure turned out to be a square, silver and green robot with green light bulb eyes, a screen for a mouth, the long arms with a left robotic hand and right metal pincer belonged to him, and had treadmills for feet.

Suddenly, its square head popped off its body like a hatch and a little boy with coifed blonde hair tumbled out of the robot, wearing the large metallic gloves.

"Ohhh…my head." He groaned in pain as he rubbed his head, having been shaken up a lot. Then he opened his blue eyes and turned his attention toward the robot on the ground.

"SpongeBorg!" he cried out in worry as he removed his gloves and rushed over. He popped the robot's head back on his body and held him in concern. "Are you alright?"

The robot's eyes light up green and replied in a series of beeps as his mouth lights up whenever he does. The boy was apparently able to understand everything he was saying and reply, "I'm glad. After what happened, I was afraid you'd get broken again."

Jimmy stared in awe at this, but mostly kept focused on the boy, somehow recognizing him from somewhere.

Timmy then walked over to the boy and robot, and crossed his arms as he asked, "Hey, what's the big idea, kid? You were the one in that thing all along?"

"BACK OFF, YOU FREAK!" the boy suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs in anger, "And he's not 'a thing', he's 'SpongeBorg'! And it's because of you idiots that SpongeCog got away with my book!"

Everybody was surprised by the boy's sudden switch of behavior. But it was because of the bad attitude that Jimmy now realized that it was the same blonde boy he encountered in Retroville when this whole thing started.

Darry walked over to the boy and decided to call him out for his rude behavior. "Hey, you can't talk to him like that!" he shouted in annoyance. "You can't talk to anyone like that!"

"You're not the boss of me, Scottie!" the boy shouted at the ghost boy. "SO QUIT ACTING LIKE IT!"

"What?" Darry shouted in question at the boy's response.

Dani walked up to the boy and gave him a warm smile as she tried to reason with him. "Listen, little guy, why don't you calm down and let us help you find your mom and dad?"

But the boy turned away from her and remained ill-tempered, "I'm not listening to you! I don't need Scottie's help and I don't need you or anyone else!"

"Who's Scottie?" Tommy asked in confusion.

"That's supposed to be my middle name." Darry answered in shock. "But the only one who's ever called me that was…Max!"

"Max?" Tammy, Tommy, and SpongeTron both repeated in shock.

"Darry, do you know this kid?" Jimmy asked.

Darry scratched the back of his head and answered, "Well...I think we do."

SpongeTron walked over to the boy's robotic companion, SpongeBorg, and stared at him with a smile. "Hi," he greeted with a small wave. "Your name is SpongeBorg, right?"

SpongeBorg yelped in fright and quickly went over behind the boy, Max, and shivered as he held the boy, much to SpongeTron's confusion.

Max huffed, grabbed SpongeBorg's arm and began dragging him along. "Come on, SpongeBorg, we're leaving."

"What do you mean 'leaving'?" Jimmy asked in anger as he got in front of Max. "I know you're the same kid I ran into the other day. And I have a ton of questions for you, so you're coming with us."

"Back off, big head!" Max shouted irritably as he tried to go around him. "I have my own business to take care of!"

"Not anymore!" Jimmy shouted as he grabbed a hold of Max's arm and kept him from going anywhere.

Max struggled to get out of Jimmy's grip as he yelled, "Let go! Let go of me!"

"Don't let him go, Jimmy!" Darry told him. "I definitely know who he is. He's your future son!"

Jimmy eyes widen in shock at this while Max continued to try and struggled out of his grip as he yelled, "Shut up, Scottie! Tell him to let me go! NOW!"

_Ooh, looks like they caught someone (and something) out of another stream- the time stream that is. Can they get anything out of this kid who appears to be Jimmy's future son, Max? Please review and read the next chapter._


	10. Chapter 9: Promise of a Lifetime

_We get the plot moving with this chapter! Do you think they will still have psychologist in the future? Eh…probably not. Learn Max's secret in this chapter…_

_Enjoy…_

Chapter 9: Promise of a Lifetime

Later that day, after their battle with the evil SpongeCog, Jimmy and the others dragged the difficult Max into Fenton Works after discovering he and his robot companion were the mysterious figure the entire time, and that he was actually Jimmy's son from the future.

Max had now calmed down and was sitting at the coffee table in the living room, drawing on a piece of paper with crayons. His robot, SpongeBorg, was doing the same yet just scribbling a bunch of lines on his own piece of paper with various colors.

Dani and Sam were sitting on the couch, presumably supervising the two as to make sure they didn't try to do anything they might consider suspicious- or at least try to run away; while Jimmy and Timmy were on the other side of the room having a discussion with the younger kids.  
>"So," Jimmy began as he quickly glanced over his shoulder to see Max. "You really believe he's my future son?" he asked the kids.<p>

"Yeah, he has to be." Darry said as he nodded in certain.

"Although, where we're from, he's supposed to be only one-year-old." Tommy pointed out.

"I guess all that milk he's been drinking really paid off." SpongeTron assumed with a shrug.

Tammy groaned in frustration and shouted, "Can't you see it? The only explanation has to be that he comes from the distant future that Clockwork was talking about."

"The distant future? That's gotta be the reason why! He's an older Max." Darry nodded with a smile. "He calls me 'Scottie' since he's a baby and can't say my real name yet." But then his eyes widen in horror and he holds the sides of his head in panic. "Oh man…but if that's really him, and he still calls me that even when he's older… that means he's never gonna learn my real name! AAAH!"

"Wait a minute!" Timmy shouted, stopping his screaming. "How can that brat possibly be related to Jimmy?" he asked, looking over at Max. "I mean the head and the doopy hair make sense, but he's nothing but a loud-mouth little jerk."

"But that can't be true." Tammy said in denial. "Max is supposed to be sweet and smart."

"She's right." SpongeTron said, agreeing with Tammy. "There has to be some sort of explanation for that."

"Well, my son or not, he still has to answer all of our questions." Jimmy said as he turned around to look over at Max. "If he's really from the distant future, I would like to know why he's here and if he has any connection to what's going on. Plus if he's really my son…maybe he has a little of my genetics." He smiled as he tapped the side of his head.

Then the group walked over to the coffee table and prepared to ask Max all their questions. "Max," Jimmy began. "We'd like to have a word with you."

Max did not respond and instead showed them the picture he had drawn with his crayons. It was a crude drawing of a strange object that they probably have never even seen. When squinting their eyes, it kinda looked like a type of laser.

Darry gave an unsure chuckle and said, "Um…that's a pretty picture. Is it a tree?"

But Max did not look amused by the compliment and just continued showing them the picture with the bottom half of his face hidden behind the paper. "You know about this, don't you?" he callously asked.

"Know about what?" Tommy asked.

"I know you read my book." Max said, slamming the picture down on the table. "You know everything about it, don't you?"

"Wait, you mean Platform?" Jimmy asked, now understanding. "That picture is of Platform?"

"Duh, of course it is."

"We didn't see any picture of Platform in that book." Darry pointed out. "Only parts of it."

"Well, I've seen it all." Max said in a smug tone. "So none of you would know what it really looks like, Scottie."

"It's Darry!" he frustratingly pointed out.

"Yeah, so? It's not my fault you have a stupid middle name."

Darry became furious at this, "WHAT?"

"Max," Tammy said in a calm tone. "You shouldn't be so mean to people like that."

Max just turned to her and asked, "And who are you to tell me what to do, four-eyes?"

Tammy gasped, taken aback, as Tommy got between them and angrily shouted, "Hey! No one calls my sister that- except for me!"

"And what are you gonna do about it, beaver teeth?" Max shouted in Tommy's face.

Dani quickly stood up and pulled them apart. "Stop it, you two! This is no time to be fighting!"

Max just stood there and glared at Dani, looking like he wanted to say something. This did not go unnoticed by Jimmy and he quickly warned, "And if you say one insult to her, I'll…spank you, young man."

Max angrily growled at this and sat back down on the floor, pounding his hands on the coffee table. "You'll never be my real dad." He said to the older genius in resentment.

Jimmy, Timmy, and Darry kept a focused expression on him. "Now how about telling us why you're here and what you know?" Darry demanded.

"Why should I?" Max asked as he crossed his arms and turned his head away. "None of this concerns you anyway. None of you should even be involved."

But then SpongeBorg turned his head to Max and made beeping noises. Max stared at SpongeBorg as he listened to his 'words'.

Then Max replied bitterly, "Why should we? Just because he and Scottie are here, doesn't mean we need them."

SpongeBorg made a series of beeps again, but Max turned his head away and refused to listen anymore.

"Need help with what?" SpongeTron questioned to Max after listening to SpongeBorg's pleading, clearly able to understand every word the little robot was saying. "What did he mean about you being in danger, Maxie?"

Jimmy stared in astonishment at SpongeBorg's incomprehensible language that could only be understood by SpongeTron, and even Max. Something about this reminded him of his own beloved robot, but he didn't wanna make anymore comparisons that could possibly make it anymore clear that he was the future father of the ill-tempered boy.

'_So what if I tell them everything._' Jimmy heard Max say. '_It's not like they'll believe me anyway.'_

"What was that, Max?" Jimmy asked, quickly turning his head to Max to see him with his arms crossed and a pout on his face, not even acknowledging anything going on around him.

But once Jimmy got his attention, his eyes widen in horror and quickly shook it off as he pounded on the table and shouted, "What are you talking about? I didn't say anything!"

Afterwards, Max just continued sulking until SpongeBorg patted his back, prompting him to tell them everything.

He gave a large sigh and said, "Fine, I'll tell you." Max crossed his arms again and got a serious expression. "You guys should have figured out I'm from ten years into the future from Scottie's timeline. But here, that would precisely be twenty-six years from now."

"So you really are Jimmy's kid." Sam said in amazement until she asked, "Does your…other dad know you're here?"

Max did not respond, and just looked away from her as he closed his eyes with a frown. "Anyway…" he continued, "In my timeline, there's this war going on."

Everyone all gasped at this in shock at what he said. "A war?" Tammy questioned in horror.

"Whoa, really?" Timmy asked, equally surprised.

"That's terrible." Dani added.

"A war between who?" Sam wanted to know.

To answer Sam's question, Max responded, "That's easy: you guys." The group was even more shocked- until Max added, "…and DarkEvil LaserPants."

"That's crazy!" Darry yelled, "Clockwork told us he escaped to the distant future, but he didn't say it was this bad!"

"But how could someone like DarkEvil start a war in the far future?" Timmy asked. "I know he's dangerous, but…"

"Relax, I'll explain." Max responded. "That is IF YOU STOP INTERRUPTING ME!"

Though annoyed with his outburst, they all complied and stayed silent to allow him to continue.

"Alright, where was I?" Max scratched his chin and then went on, "Oh yeah, the thing is we thought he disappeared all those years ago. My mom said I wouldn't remember something like that because I was still a baby. But when it was discovered that he had suddenly reappeared, my old man had Scottie lead the Nicktoons to go track down his trail and apprehend him. I don't know why though…I mean, Scottie's such a dumb leader, he can't do anything right."

As he listened, Darry gritted his teeth and growled furiously as he clenched his fist. But Jimmy held his shoulder to calm him down.

"Anywho," Max said, seemingly bored as he leaned on the coffee table, "Yeah, they did capture DarkEvil, and they brought him to HQ to interrogate him, I guess. Of course like I said, Scottie and those idiots SUPPOSEDLY captured DarkEvil."

"Supposedly?" Jimmy repeated in question.

"Yeah. It turned out to be that dumb SpongeCog in disguise and he attacked everyone, stealing a bunch of weapons and equipment in the process." Then Max regained his serious look, "Which is bad because my dad keeps all his dangerous stuff in the Weapons Vault of HQ, and the only way to get in is with handprint analyzer and voice recognition. But for someone like SpongeCog, getting in was nothing. He escaped of course- thanks to Scottie, but when he got back to his creator that's when all the trouble started.

"DarkEvil copied the designs of the weapons, enhanced their features, made his own modifications, and equipped them onto an army of robots called 'EvilGrunts'. So it was afterwards that they all invaded and a war was set between the Nicktoons and DarkEvil LaserPants. It's been going on for a while now, and the good side has been doing their best to keep everyone safe from the danger being set forth by that stupid sponge."

"But what does this all have to do with Platform and that instruction book?" Tommy asked.

"It goes back five years ago." Max explained, "My dad said that with all his traveling he used to do when he was my age, he came up with the idea for a machine that can benefit us all. But it would be complicated, and almost as difficult as some mecha power suit he built when he was also my age. So back then, all he did was create schematics for it, the probabilities for controls and functions, and retrieved most of the technology he needed. Back then, it was something he worked on whenever he had the chance, and he never told anyone about it- except me.

"But because of what happened, he worked to finish it, and told us that he will use it to change the universe and stop the war from happening. However, you were right that he created the book as an instruction manual to show us how it worked."

Jimmy eyes were widened in astonishment as he listened. "So…" he asked, almost speechless, "You're saying that Platform…was created by…"

"Duh, who else?" Max bitterly answered, "I did say it was my dad, weren't you listening?"

"Yeah, yeah, just go on." Timmy insisted.

Max didn't bother to complain this time, and continued, "Yeah, so my dad knew that something like this was delicate when used the wrong way; and if it got into the wrong hands, it could mean the end of the universe for us all. So he inputted a digit security code that would lock all controls to Platform unless the code was entered. He came up with the code himself so that no one would know it but him."

"Isn't the code written down in the manual?" SpongeTron recalled.

"Of course not!" Max shouted in annoyance, "My dad's a genius. Why would he write down something so crucial where anybody could see it?"

"So only my future self knows the code, right?" Jimmy questioned to himself, and then looked back at Max. "But DarkEvil has Platform with intentions to use it. If he doesn't know the code to activate it, why bother having it?"

"Unless he has Max's dad in his clutches." Tammy guessed.

While they were conversing, Max looked down at the table and closed his eyes, looking like he might start to cry.

"Max?" SpongeTron asked, noticing his expression. "What's wrong?"

"NOTHING!" Max hollered angrily, catching everyone's attention. "My dad's fine! Even though he knows the code, he's not the one DarkEvil's after!"

"Wait…does that mean somebody else knows the code?" Darry asked.

Max opened his eyes and had an almost vulnerable look on his face as he began to explain, "It happened about two days ago. My dad was leaving to go help the others in a battle against DarkEvil's forces. I didn't want him to leave. I even offered to go with him to help, but he told me I had to stay at home with my mom and SpongeBorg. I told him that he should stay and use the Platform invention he had been working on, but he said that it had to be used when he got back and all his friends were safe.

"But I still didn't want him to leave. I secretly didn't wanna be left alone in case I accidentally-" but then he shook his head and retained his serious look, "Anyway, I didn't want him to leave because I was worried he wouldn't come back. But my dad said he would no matter what, and knew just how he would show me that he would keep his promise. He pulled me close and whispered in my ear the code to Platform."

Everyone gasped at this except for Jimmy, who just stood there in stunned silence, almost feeling sorry for the ill-tempered little boy.

Max then continued, "Then he made me swear not to tell anyone the code. Dad said he knew he could trust me to keep it secret, and all I had to do was trust him that he'll keep his. Then afterwards, he left and all I had to do was wait."

"Oh Max," Sam said in a comforting tone as she placed her hands on Max's shoulders. "I'm sorry about everything that happened."

"But if you said that DarkEvil wasn't after your dad for the code," Tammy began saying, "then that doesn't mean…"

Before she could try and finish, Max walked away from Sam and stood by himself in the middle of the living room. "If you're not acting like Scottie, then yes it does!"

"I happen to be thinking the same thing too!" Darry pointed out bitterly before his expression turned sympathetic, "He's…after you, isn't he?"

Max hid his sad expression from the others and explained, "Yes. He somehow found out that I knew the code, and has been sending his stupid SpongeCog robots to capture me ever since. SpongeBorg and I ran into my dad's lab, and found his old Wormhole Generator. I managed to activate it and it brought us here, so we can hide. I also took one of the Recallers so I can hide in the other universes if I had to- which by the way, is actually the old Recaller that belonged to Scottie's dad."

Darry growled angrily at this while Dani and Sam looked equally annoyed as him.

"But Max," Jimmy started saying, "You do know that DarkEvil is still trying to find you. That's why his SpongeCog bots have been showing up. They're still trying to hunt you down."

"You think I don't know that, fudge head?" Max shouted bitterly. "I don't even wanna be here anyway. Just let me and SpongeBorg leave and you won't have to worry about it."

"We're not gonna do that, Max." Darry said as he walked over and leaned down to his height. "We wanna keep you safe. None of us want DarkEvil to capture you just so he can get that code. What is the code anyway?"

"That's none of your business, Scottie!"

"It's Darry!"

"I'm still not telling, Sco-tee!"

"Max, stop this!" Jimmy angrily demanded. "Darry's right. If you tell us the code, maybe we can find a way to keep Platform from being used and-"

"NO!" Max yelled out. "Weren't you even listening? I'm keeping my promise to Dad, and I'm not telling ANYONE the code! So quit worrying about me and stay out of my face!"

Then he ran out of the living room and into the kitchen with no one bothering to go after him. SpongeBorg gave a sad moan as he watched him leave.

"Man…" Timmy said in bewilderment. "What a brat."

_That pretty much sums it all up, doesn't it? What is the code to Platform, is Max safe with Jimmy and the others, will he tell everyone the code? Please review what you think._


	11. Chapter 10: Taming the Brat

_Here's the next chapter of "Nicktoons: The Final Countdown". Will they get Max to tell them the code to Platform or is he still a temperamental brat?_

_Find out and enjoy…_

Chapter 10: Taming the Brat

Later that afternoon after learning more from Max about Platform and learning that he's the only other one who knows the code to unlock the machine, the kids were stuck on what to do about the bratty stubborn Max since he refuses to tell them the code or work together with them.

"Well, this is a big waste!" Tommy shouted. "Max is an all-time jerk! There's no way he can help us."

"Tommy, I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason why he's acting like this." Tammy said as she glanced at Darry, "Right?"

But Darry crossed his arms and glared. "I'm with Tommy on this one." He said in an irate tone. "I never thought someone like Max would grow up to be such a-"

Jimmy then cut in and said, "Guys, we need Max on our side if we're gonna find Platform. It wouldn't help if you're all calling him names."

"But they're right." Timmy said in agreement with the younger kids. "He doesn't even care about helping us. You heard the way he talked to you, remember?"

"Well, Jimmy's right too." Dani intervened. "We do need him if we're ever gonna find Danny."

"No point now." Timmy said, now looking sad. "Thanks to that fake Danny, we still have no idea where he could be. Not to mention all that stuff we said to him, thinking he really was Danny. No doubt that DarkEvil has the advantage over us now."

Hearing this, Darry got a distraught look and turned around, covering his face. Sam noticed this and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe not." Jimmy suddenly spoke up. "Maybe SpongeCog really was telling the truth about something. If you think about it, he's a robot from the future. He knows as much about Danny as Timmy and I do, yet he managed to fool Danielle and Sam, who know Danny better than any of us."

"Okay," Sam said, looking confused. "Where are you going with this?"

"What I'm saying is that they would need to have a way of knowing Danny's current appearance and characteristics. And for that to happen, they would need only one person to know all that."

Dani gasped, now fully understanding what Jimmy was implying, "So you're saying that Danny really is being held captive by DarkEvil LaserPants?"

"Exactly." Jimmy answered with a smile.

Darry and Sam both gasp in shock about this, while Timmy asked, "What about SpongeBob and Tak?"

"I can't say for certain about them." Jimmy responded. "But if we wanna save Danny and find them, we just need a way of locating where exactly they're being held."

Darry then narrowed his eyes and walked away into the kitchen with no one noticing. SpongeTron turned around and spotted SpongeBorg hiding behind the couch as he watched the group.

"Hey," SpongeTron said as his face lit up with an idea. "Maybe SpongeBorg can help us!"

He ran around the couch to try and talk to him, but SpongeBorg just squealed in fright and ran around to the other side with his treadmills, confusing SpongeTron as he stared at the little robot, cowering behind a lamp from afar.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt ya." SpongeTron pointed out as he eyed SpongeBorg. "We're friends."

Just then, the front door opened, and Jack and Maddie came in. "Hi kids," Maddie greeted. "Any news about Danny yet?"

Jimmy, Timmy, Dani, and Sam all stared at each other, silently agreeing that it was best not to tell them everything they found out or their encounter with the imposter Danny. "NO!" they all shouted in unison.

Jack and Maddie both stared in confusion until they saw SpongeBorg zoom past their legs, beeping in fright and startling them.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Darry goes to the backyard and finds Max by himself, kicking a can at the fence out of boredom.<p>

"Hey…Maxie?" Darry asked as he stepped outside, catching Max's attention as he stopped playing with the can.

But Max refused to look at him. "What do you want, Scottie?" he asked bitterly.

"It's 'Darry'." He corrected, trying to remain calm. "And I just wanna talk because we really need your help to rescue my dad."

"Yeah, and?" Max replied, still retaining his angered look.

"He's been captured by DarkEvil LaserPants, and we need you tell us where he is." Darry added as he looked down sadly to the ground. "I really wanna rescue him and I'm worried."

Finally Max turned around and answered, "Your dad is not my problem, Scottie. You worry about what's happening to you and I'll worry about what's happening to me."

"What's happening to YOU?" Darry questioned in annoyance. "You're out here by yourself. If SpongeCog sees you, he'll capture you and that'll be it."

"He can't catch me. I'm not stupid enough to let myself get captured."

Darry seemed to be seething with anger, but then he calmed down and spoke civilly to the stubborn boy, "Look, Max, we wanna help because we care about you. We may be from different times, but we're still friends. If you won't help my dad, then maybe if you tell us the code…"

"NO!" Max yelled out. "I will NEVER tell any of you the code! So leave me alone, Scottie!"

"It's DARRY!" the ghost boy yelled at the top of his lungs. "You know my name is 'Darry', so quit calling me that!"

"Like that'll ever happen, Scottie." Max snidely remarked as he turned around. "At least my middle name comes from someone famous. Yours is just stupid."

Darry became even more furious at his insults, and then clenched his fist and lifted his arm up as if he were about to punch him from behind.

But right as he swung his arm, Sam's voice called out, "Darrel Scott Fenton!"

He immediately turned around to see Sam standing at the backdoor with his her arms crossed and an angered look. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked angrily at what she just saw.

"Uh, I wasn't…" Darry stammered nervously. "It's not what it looks like."

But Sam stormed over to him and grabbed Darry by his ear. "You have a lot of explaining to do if you're gonna beat up little kids."

"But Mom, he started it!" Darry cried out.

Max just walked away from the scene with a dull look. "You bore me."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in a large dark area, a large bronze metallic device was set in the middle of the room. Attached to the back was an elevated single red chair with a bunch of blank monitors and a large keyboard below it. DarkEvil LaserPants was sitting in the chair as he read the instruction manual that SpongeCog stole for him.<p>

"This won't do!" DarkEvil shouted as he tossed the book aside and it fell all the way down below, hitting SpongeCog in the head as he watched his master from the ground.

"There is no code in there. Who told you that?" DarkEvil asked in annoyance.

SpongeCog didn't respond and instead got a guilty look over his failed mission.

"Now let me make this clear." DarkEvil said in a cold calm tone. "In order to get that code I need the Target! If I don't get that code, I can't operate this device and all will be for nothing!"

"Forgive me, Master." SpongeCog suddenly spoke in a humble tone. "But the Target is now in the hands of those squishies. He'll probably tell them everything, and they'll know of our plan…"

"Wait!" DarkEvil suddenly interrupted. "If that's truly the case, then maybe we don't have to worry about chasing the Target anymore."

* * *

><p>Back at Fenton Works, Jimmy had come into the Op-Center, carrying a plate of food. "Max!" he called out. "Maddie made us all dinner, and I just thought you might be hungry so I brought you some!"<p>

But he soon noticed that Max was nowhere to be found. He walked over to the back door and opened it a crack to see Max was sitting on the roof with SpongeBorg sitting next to him.

"Oh, SpongeBorg, I don't know what to do." He heard Max say as he hid behind to the door to listen to them. "I don't even wanna be here anymore."

SpongeBorg beeped in response and Max answered, "No, I don't wanna give them a chance. And if I did, they'd just hate me more."

SpongeBorg whirred sadly and beeped again. Max sighed and responded, "I'm beginning to feel weird again. You know what happens when I feel that way, what if it happens again? I don't know what I'll do if it happens and they're in the way, and then…"

When he was unable to finish, SpongeBorg places his right pincer on his shoulder and beeps in comfort.

Max smiled and said, "You're the only one who understands me, SpongeBorg. I don't what I'd do without you."

But SpongeBorg's left arm suddenly fell off his body and hit the ground with a 'clank'. Max giggled a bit and said, "Sorry, SpongeBorg, let me fix you up."

Max took a small screwdriver out of his pocket and began to reattach his robot friend's arm. "We're lucky that nothing happened to you when we were fighting SpongeCog." Max lightheartedly added.

As Jimmy continued to watch him quietly, Max suddenly frowned sadly and Jimmy heard him say, '_I just wish I had someone else to tell this to other than SpongeBorg. Would Jimmy or Scottie even accept me like this?'_ but Jimmy was surprised to notice, Max's mouth hadn't moved, so how was he even talking?

Then the door of the roof opened up and Jimmy decided to make his presence known. "Hey Max," he greeted with a smile. "I was looking for you everywhere."

"Well, you found me." Max responded with cheerfulness no longer in his voice or expression.

"I just wanted to bring you something to eat." Jimmy said, trying to retain his smile.

"Thanks, I guess." Max said as he continued to screw SpongeBorg's arm in. "But I'm busy right now."

Jimmy placed the plate of food on the ground and sat right next to the two. "It looks like SpongeBorg's brachial circuits might be coming undone. Maybe I could rewire the circuits, and it'll-"

"Forget it, Fudge Head!" Max acrimoniously replied. "I built him myself and I could repair him myself!"

"Really? You built him? That's fascinating."

Max then turned his head toward the genius, looking surprised by his comment. "You really think so?"

"Of course." Jimmy nodded with a smile. "With a little fine tuning, he might just be as sturdy as SpongeTron- or even my own robot, Goddard."

Once Max finished screwing SpongeBorg's arm back, Max shook the stunned expression on his face and glared, "Of course he will." He smugly replied as he tapped his fist on SpongeBorg's chest. "I can build him better than anybody." Then he stared Jimmy in the face. "And if you just came up here to get the code from me, then-"

"No, Max, it's okay!" Jimmy quickly mentioned. "I understand why you won't tell, and I respect that."

Max got a perplexed look at his past father's sudden acquiescent. But he shook his head and glared, "I don't buy it. It's obvious Scottie put you up to this."

"No, he didn't." Jimmy tried to explain. "And you shouldn't be so hard on Darry. He's a nice kid, and he only wants to help you."

"Well, I don't want it." Then SpongeBorg beeped and whirred which Max replied, "No, I don't. Now stop it!"

SpongeBorg yelped a bit at Max's tone as his treadmills squeak as he takes a step back. Max slaps his forehead in annoyance as he groans; "Now I have to repair that too."

"Well…" Jimmy began trying to explain, "Maybe if you took your time when fixing SpongeBorg, maybe he won't malfunction as much."

But Max just glared at him. "Will you mind your own business? I know I'll never be as great as my dad. He's a genius and he can invent anything, but nothing I make ever comes out right. Even SpongeBorg isn't fully functioning."

"You shouldn't talk like that, Max." Jimmy said in a consoling tone. "I'm sure your dad thinks you're a great inventor like he is; I know I do. Besides, he made his share of mistakes when he was your age. You wouldn't believe all the things he thought he could accomplish with his intellect, only to have it backfire in his face. Plus if it weren't for his friends being there to back him up, he probably wouldn't be who he is. I'm sure of that."

"I don't get it." Max said as he turned away from him. "Mom always told me about how you messed things up, put everything in danger, and wrecked everything with all your inventions." Then he faced him with a furious scowl, "So how is it that everyone likes you?"

But Jimmy seemed confused by this question and startled by his expression, "What?"

"You heard me, big head!" Max yelled in his face. "You messed EVERYTHING up! Everyone had a reason to hate you, and yet you have a bunch of friends like Carl, Sheen, Libby, Mr. Turner…Scottie's dad." Then he closed his eyes as if he were about to burst into tears. "…and Scottie…it's even easy for an idiot like him to make friends! You're a genius, everybody likes you, and you can make friends with ANYBODY!"

Jimmy stared in agape at his future son's odd behavior, and he began to try and inch closer to him. "Max...I…" he whispered as he reached his hand out to him.

But Max slapped his hand away and furiously yelled, "Just leave me alone!"

Then he ran through the door into the Op-Center, Jimmy stood up and raised an eyebrow as he stared at where Max left. He then glanced down at SpongeBorg, who yelped and picked up the plate of food before rushing away.

* * *

><p>Later that night, everybody decided to go to bed in order to rest up to find where DarkEvil is tomorrow. Max was given the same room as Jimmy and Darry since it was thought that the two leaders would be able to handle him better than Timmy and Tommy would.<p>

But Max wasn't doing anything irrational at the moment. He was just lying on a blanket spread out onto the floor in the far corner of Danny's room, with his head resting on a pillow as he wore the same scowl.

Darry peeked down at Max from the bed and asked, "You need an extra blanket, Max?"

"I'm fine." Max answered as he sat up. "But I want SpongeBorg with me!"

"We already told you, Max." Jimmy explained in an annoyed tone. "He'll be comfortable in the basement with SpongeTron."

"So you think you can cool your head and go to sleep?" Darry asked irritably as he threw the covers over himself.

For once, Max resisted a comeback and instead retorted, "Just stay on your sides of the room and DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT CROSSING!" before burying his face into his pillow.

Jimmy stared haplessly at the two, and hoped Max's outburst didn't disturb the others. He soon switched off the lamp before going to sleep.

* * *

><p>A couple hours later, in the darkened bedroom, Jimmy was sleeping soundly on his left side while Darry was lightly snoring in the bed.<p>

After a while, Jimmy suddenly opened his eyes slightly for some reason and lied there. But then, he suddenly widened his eyes in surprise as he felt something next him. He quickly sat up and removed his blanket to see what was underneath. But to even greater shock, it wasn't quite what he was expecting…

On his right side, Max curled up next to him, with his backside resting as close as it could get to Jimmy. It was apparent that the boy had, at some point in the night, went from his side of the room over to Jimmy's, and crawled under the genius's covers to sleep with him.

Jimmy stared at the sleeping boy, baffled by this, but soon noticed that Max had a disturbed and frightened look on his sleeping face.

The genius sighed with a look of pity as he lied back down on his left side and whispered, "I don't think I'll ever understand you, Max."

_Complex issues, much? Please review what you think of the chapter and keep an eye out for the next chapter._


	12. Chapter 11: Confide the Truth

_Sorry for the wait, but here's the next chapter of "Nicktoons: The Final Countdown". Last time, Max has some issues and a big secret- possibly more than one._

_Enjoy…_

Chapter 11: Confide the Truth

The next morning, things were chaotic at Fenton Works. Everyone was running around in panic as they searched for something- or someone- that was missing.

In the living room, Jimmy got on his knees and bent over as he looked under the couch. "Not under here!" he called out. He sat up and looked over at Timmy, "Did you find him?"

Timmy came out from the kitchen and said, "Nope, not in there."

Dani came out from the kitchen also and added, "He's not out in the yard either."

* * *

><p>Upstairs, the twins were searching the bathroom as Tammy pulled back the shower curtains to look in the bathtub. "I don't see him in here."<p>

Behind her, Tommy was glancing into the toilet as he said, "He's definitely not in here."

* * *

><p>Back downstairs, Jimmy was wandering around to continue searching until Darry Phantom suddenly sprung up from underneath him.<p>

"I checked the roof, walls, and underneath the carpet." Darry explained to Jimmy. "But I haven't found him."

"Thanks, Dar," Jimmy said in a defeated tone. "He's gotta be around here somewhere."

"He couldn't have just disappeared." Timmy pointed out to them as he walked over with his fairies behind him. "Not unless he just decided to run off and go hide from DarkEvil by himself."

"I'm not really sure that's truly the case, Timmy." Jimmy replied. "I mean remember what he left behind?"

On cue, SpongeBorg went over to them, fiddling with his claws as if he were nervous. Jimmy took this moment to point out, "Max cares about SpongeBorg more than anything, and never seems to go anywhere far away without him. If I were Max's age and I wanted to run away from home, I wouldn't even think of leaving without my pal, Goddard, by my side."

Darry thought about this and said, "Do you think maybe SpongeBorg knows where he is? Maybe he left and only told SpongeBorg about it."

At this, the three turned to SpongeBorg, which made the robot nervous. "SpongeBorg," Jimmy tenderly asked the robot, "Do you have any idea where Max is?"

SpongeBorg beeped and whirred, presumably answering their question, but none of them seem to have any idea what he was saying and all got dumbfounded look.

Timmy turned to his fairies and asked, "Can you guys tell what that means?"

"Sorry, Sport, no clue." Wanda answered.

"We don't speak robot." Cosmo added.

But Poof flew down in front of SpongeBorg as the robot beeped in wonder. Poof replied with a surprised look. "SpongeBorg scared?" he asked.

Just then, SpongeTron walks up from the basement and mentions, "Sorry, guys, but Max isn't anywhere down in the lab. The Specter Speeder is still down there, so he can't have gone into the Ghost Zone."

SpongeBorg beeped again and SpongeTron stared at him, "You didn't find him either, huh? And I don't think he'd fit inside one of those test tubes."

"SpongeTron," Jimmy began saying, "You can understand SpongeBorg, right?"

"Well, of course I can." SpongeTron answered with a giggle. "Robot is my native tongue."

"Does SpongeBorg know where Max is?" Darry quickly asked.

SpongeTron already answered, "Well, I did ask that right after Jimmy told us Max had disappeared this morning. But he said he didn't know."

"Are you sure?" Timmy asked suspiciously. "Is there something he's not telling us?"

SpongeBorg franticly beeped and waved his claws as SpongeTron explained, "He says he really doesn't know. Max never told him where he was going and if he would come back. He's just as worried as all of us are."

Jimmy sighed in disappointment. "Well, I guess that rules out that possibility." Then he slumped over and turned around, "No choice now but to keep looking."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Sam was walking outside down the sidewalk as she made her way back to Fenton Works. "I wonder if Jimmy and the others found out where to find DarkEvil and how to save Danny." She asked herself.<p>

As she passed by the park, she stopped and noticed something strange about someone who was there.

Sitting on a wooden bench in the middle of the park, Max was sitting down by himself as he sulked. But Sam noticed him looking depressed about something.

Max then glanced at the ground and noticed a small rock lying in the middle of the pathway. But all of a sudden, the rock suddenly flipped over on its other side to which Max suddenly gasped and covered his mouth in horror, and then lowered his head in sadness.

* * *

><p>Back at Fenton Works, Jimmy went upstairs and walked down the hallway with a saddened look. He then sighed and leaned back against the wall. Dani came out from her room and noticed him there.<p>

"Jimmy," Dani asked as she walked over to him. "Is everything okay?"

"Of course not," Jimmy immediately answered in grief. "I think I'm starting to slip up from my old position as a leader. We lost the manual to SpongeCog, we haven't even found where DarkEvil is holding Danny and SpongeBob, and now I lost my own future son."

"Jimmy, it isn't your fault."

"It might as well be." Jimmy responded as he slid down against the wall, onto the floor. "If Max ends up in the hands of DarkEvil LaserPants, it will be my fault. With him carrying around such crucial information, he's an open target like he said."

Dani just grabbed Jimmy's hands and pulled him back up to his feet. "He won't be captured. You remember he said he won't tell ANYONE that code. Besides, he's like you: He's strong and he never ever gives up."

Jimmy began to smile. "You really think so?"

"You bet I do." Then she got close to him. "After all, you both are geniuses."

As the two smiled at each other, they hear the door open from downstairs, followed by Tammy shouting, "MAX!"

The two gasp in surprise and happiness as Jimmy holds Dani's hand and they rush down the stairs.

* * *

><p>At the front door, Sam smiled as she greeted everyone, and next to her was Max, holding her hand with his usual frown on his face. SpongeBorg went over to him and beeped franticly to his friend.<p>

Max smiled lightly and replied, "You were, huh? I guess I should've told you." He hugged SpongeBorg as the robot wrapped his arms around Max. "I didn't mean to make you worry. I'm sorry."

Darry leaned over to them and said, "We worried too, Max." he mentioned with a smile. "We thought something bad happened to you."

"Yeah, whatever." Max said bitterly as he turned away from him.

Jimmy stood in front of Max and asked, "Where were you anyway? Don't you know that you could've been in danger out there by yourself?"

"I just wanted some fresh air and to be alone." Max simply replied with his arms crossed. "Besides, I can take care of myself."

Jimmy growled angrily and said, "Alright, Max, we're through playing games. We wanna know where DarkEvil is and where he's keeping Platform. This depends on the fate of our worlds and many innocent people, so it's crucial that you tell us right now."

Max just growled as he looked away, but Sam leaned down to him and held his shoulders. "Come on, Max. Just remember what we talked about." She said in a warm tone. "Do what's right…for you and our friends."

After this, Max groaned and dropped his arms as he sighed. "DarkEvil is here."

Everyone exchanged baffled looks as SpongeTron released a ray of blue light out of his eyes that went over Tommy; possibly scanning him to see if he was really a robot in disguise. Tommy just looked annoyed by this and poked SpongeTron in the eyes.

But then, Max began to finish his sentence, "…in the past…at Bikini Bottom…in the Chum Bucket."

Then everyone got shocked looks until Timmy spoke up. "Of course, why didn't we think of that? It makes sense that he would hide out in the most obvious place that we wouldn't think to look."

"I guess so, but what about Plankton?" Jimmy questioned. "He has to still be there. Would he just let someone like DarkEvil LaserPants stay at his place, harboring the world's most dangerous weapon?"

Darry narrowed his eyes in determination. "So does this mean we're gonna go after him?" he asked Jimmy.

The genius smirked back. "That's exactly what it means."

Tommy chuckled. "Well, then we better get ready." He announced.

He and Tammy ran off and Jimmy nodded. "That's right. We're gonna need all our best stuff for where we're going."

When he walked into the living room, he looked at his watch. "And I mean ALL our best stuff." He whispered to himself. But then he reached his bag and pulled out six pieces of gum which he handed to Darry. "Pass these around for me, Dar. Since we're going to Bikini Bottom, we'll need to chew these in order to breathe."

Darry nodded and left to hand a piece of gum to each of his teammates. Max pulled on Jimmy's pants leg to get his attention. "What about me?" he asked. "I'm going too, aren't I?"

Jimmy looked down at him and answered, "Sorry, Max, but I think it's best if you stay here with Jack, Maddie, and Sam. If you go with us to the Chum Bucket where DarkEvil is, it can put you in more danger."

"I'm not afraid." Max said with a frown. "Besides, I'm not gonna just sit here and let DarkEvil destroy my home. I have to stop him once and for all and get back Platform."

"It's still too risky." Jimmy said as he leaned down to his height. "As long as you know the code, he's gonna be expecting you to come to him. The only other way is for you to tell me the code and that'll-"

"NO WAY!" Max yelled at him. "I don't care if you wanna help me! I promised my dad I wouldn't tell so I'm not telling!"

"But I'm your dad also," Jimmy said in a serious tone as he stood. "So telling me would also benefit us both."

"I SAID NO! I'M NOT TELLING YOU OR ANYONE ELSE, BIG HEAD!"

Then Timmy intervened, "Hey, he's just trying to keep your bratty butt safe from an evil maniac! The least you can do is thank him once!"

"It's okay, Timmy." Jimmy said, holding him back. "If Max doesn't wanna give us the code, that's fine. But he knows that he's not coming with us."

"Oh sure," Max replied in a sarcastic tone, "You let Scottie come with you, but you won't let someone who won't mess anything up like him!"

Timmy replied in the same tone, "Well, 'Scottie' doesn't know any secret codes or information that could put him in danger if he did come along!"

SpongeBorg poked Max with his finger to get his attention and then beeped something to him. Max slapped his claw away and shouted, "No! I won't and I never will!"

Being the only one who understood that, SpongeTron asked, "Wait a minute, what special secret is he talking about?"

"It's nothing…" Max muttered, looking almost calm.

"Max…" Dani began asking. "Are you hiding something from us?"

"That's none of your business!" Max shouted back as he pushed his way through the group. '_Why can't they understand?'_

SpongeTron noticed the last thing Max was saying, his mouth wasn't moving and it was almost like his voice echoed inside his head.

'_If I told them that as well, it would just make things worse.'_

"Make what worse?" Darry asked, hearing Max as well.

"Is this about that special secret?" SpongeTron asked.

Max turned around and held the sides of his head. "I-I-It's nothing!" he quickly responded. "Go if you want! I don't care anymore!"

Then he stormed upstairs as the kids stared in shock at what Max just displayed. "Max," Sam was about to follow him, but Timmy grabbed her shoulder and held her back as he shook his head, implying to her that it wouldn't be the best idea.

Jimmy just dismissed this and assumed his role of leadership. "Alright, everyone, we better start leaving."

"But what about Max?" Tammy asked, looking concerned.

"He'll be fine here." Jimmy answered. "He doesn't wanna cooperate with us, but we can manage without him." Then he put on a small smile to her. "Besides, we have the coordinates we need, so we're ready to go ahead and stop DarkEvil."

Tammy still didn't look convinced about Max's safety, but Darry reassured her. "Don't worry about him. The important thing is he's safe- even if he wants it or not."

Jimmy turned to Sam and asked, "Would you be okay here, keeping an eye on Max?"

"Sure I will." Sam answered with a confident smile, "Just as long as you bring Danny back."

"It's a deal." He nodded with a smile and chuckle, and then turned to Danielle. "You'll be fine here watching Max too."

"No way, Jimmy." Dani said with a straight face. "I'm coming with you guys. I didn't fight deadly robots and keep you from dropping out for nothing."

"But…Well…" Jimmy stammered. "DarkEvil isn't as easy as one of our common adversaries. You remember how dangerous he is, don't you?"

"Of course I do. But it doesn't mean I'm gonna back out and let you and everyone else go off and possibly get killed on your own." Then she grabbed Jimmy's hand. "I've come this far and I'm not backing down now."

Jimmy was a bit stunned by this, but he ultimately smiled and nodded in response. Dani smiled back and then ran off to help the others get ready. Once Jimmy was alone, he ran over to the stairs and looked at his watch. "I know I shouldn't be doing this." He whispered to himself as he opened his watch. "But it's the only chance we have."

_Looks like they finally know where they need to go. But without the code, will they stop DarkEvil from using Platform? Please review what you think so far._


	13. Chapter 12: Slice and Dice

_Here's the next (and action-packed) chapter of "Nicktoons: The Final Countdown". Last time, they learned from Max where DarkEvil is hiding, and now they just need to get in._

_Enjoy…_

Chapter 12: Slice and Dice

An hour later, the Nicktoons began to walk out the front door of Fenton Works to begin their mission to go to Bikini Bottom, stop DarkEvil, retrieve Platform, and rescue Danny and SpongeBob. Jimmy had taken the longest to get ready out of all of them, but when questioned by his friends on why it took so long, Jimmy just insisted to drop it and that he would explain later. Jack, Maddie, and Sam bid the group good luck, but Max just stood next to them with an angry frown while SpongeBorg held his hand and waved to the Nicktoons with his other claw. Jimmy used his Recaller to make a green portal which he and the others walked through to reach their destination.

* * *

><p>They arrived in Bikini Bottom and reached the Chum Bucket which was still across the street from the Krusty Krab. Both restaurants looked the same as they did four years ago.<p>

"This place doesn't look like it's holding some large machine." Timmy noticed with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it is where Max said DarkEvil is holding Platform." Jimmy responded. "We won't know for sure unless we go inside."

Darry Phantom cracked his knuckles and narrowed his eyebrows in determination. "Let's crash this party." He said with a smirk.

The front doors suddenly broke open by Darry's kick as the ghost boy rushes in afterwards. "Alright, LaserPants, we have you outnumbered!" he shouted out. "So hand over Platform and let SpongeBob and my dad go!" but he opened his glowing blue eyes and noticed he was standing in an empty restaurant. "…Hello?"

The rest of the Nicktoons walk in and stand next to Darry. "You could've waited for us to join you, ya know." Tammy said in a dull tone.

"Yeah," Dani Phantom added in an annoyed tone. "And I don't think it's safe to just barge in."

Darry slumped over in disappointment. "Chillax. He's not in here anyway."

"He's probably somewhere in Plankton's lab." Timmy guessed.

Darry smirked again and rushed off again. "Dar, wait a minute!" Jimmy tried to call out to him.

But the ghost boy jumped in the air and kicked the second down open like he did the last one. "Alright, LaserPants," he shouted again as he rushed in. "We have you- AAH!" but he noticed the entire floor was gone and he slid down underground.

Jimmy heard his scream and rushed in. "Darry, what's- Aah!" but he slid down below like Darry.

The others rushed in, but unlike the last two, they carefully slid down below to see if Jimmy and Darry were alright.

Timmy pulled Jimmy up to his feet and glanced around. "What is this place? I don't remember it being in here."

"This can't really be the Chum Bucket, can it?" Dani asked.

"A better question would be 'where's Plankton?'" Jimmy thought out loud as he looked around and saw a long tunnel leading down the hall. "He has to be around here somewhere. And so is DarkEvil…everyone stay together."

They began to walk through the dimly lit hallway that seemed to almost be like a maze; with turns that led to dead-ends or other hallways that led into empty rooms. Jimmy led the way, but he didn't seem to have the slightest idea where he was going, and just seemed to be quietly winging it with the direction he was going in, hoping it would somehow lead to DarkEvil and Platform.

"Plankton really renovated the place, didn't he?" Timmy spoke up after a while.

"It's kinda strange though." SpongeTron replied in an uneasy tone. "The Chum Bucket back home isn't nearly as dim and depressing as this."

"Something's not right here." Darry said cautiously. "I get the feeling something's just lurking around here waiting for us."

Just then, Jimmy extended his arm to stop Darry and the others from going forward. "I think you might be right, Dar."

From ahead of the hallway, a strange figure walked toward them. When it stepped out of the darkness, it was revealed to be a short square-shaped figure with a black robe covering its body and a straw samurai hat covering its head and shadowing its face with glowing red eyes being the only thing visible. "So…" he spoke in a cold emotionless voice. "I found the intruders here."

Timmy glared and said, "You must be SpongeCog 8, right?"

"You are correct." The robot, SpongeCog 8, answered.

"How did you even know we were here?" Tammy asked.

"I heard you come in." SpongeCog 8 explained. "All I did was follow the sound of kicking and yelling from the door upstairs."

At this, Darry got an embarrassed chuckle as Dani, Tammy, Tommy, SpongeTron, and Timmy dagger at him.

"Let me make this easy for both of us." SpongeCog 8 spoke in the same tone. "Hand over the Target, and things will go a lot smoother than they have been lately."

"If you're talking about Max, he's not with us." Jimmy immediately responded. "So how about you make things easy by handing over Platform."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible." SpongeCog 8 answered in the calmest tone possible. "You see, my master has his own…plans for a device like that. All he requires now is the code which only the Target possesses. If you won't relinquish the Target to us, then I'm afraid it will be an unfitting end for you humans. However, it will be…easier if that were to happen."

"You don't scare us, 8!" Darry yelled. "You'll never get Max and we will get Platform back!"

SpongeCog 8's glowing eyes narrow. "We'll see about that…once I dispose of you."

"Jimmy! Timmy! Dani! Get back!" Tammy shouted as she tried to get everyone to back away. "You've never fought someone like SpongeCog 8 before!"

Timmy then backed away and asked, "Compared to the doofus muscle bot and the disguise maniac one, how much dangerous can this one be?"

Suddenly, SpongeCog 8's legs began to stretch upward, making him much taller; and then, he undid his robe to reveal an extra pair of arms that each contained a long sharp katana which seemed to be used as his hands, prepared to strike his opponents.

Timmy stared dumbfounded by this. "Oh geez…"

SpongeCog 8 then swung his swords at rapid speed around his body as he launched himself at the Nicktoons. "Look out, everyone!" Jimmy warned as he and everyone jumped out of the way of the strike.

However, with this place being a hallway, there wasn't really anyplace to dodge and all seven were lucky not to get stabbed. Dani quickly jumped on top of Tammy and Tommy, and then turned them and herself intangible to avoid 8's attack.

SpongeTron turns his hands into iron shields that deflect the swords while Timmy holds his green hammer out to defend himself. Darry levitates in the air and quickly stretches his body into ghostly mist that one of the swords slashes right through, not harming him. Jimmy had taken out his beamsword and began trying as best as he could to deflect the swings from SpongeCog 8.

As SpongeCog 8 swung his swords he paused for a moment and spoke in his cold tone, "Still as worthy an opponent as ever I see." He stared at them through his hidden face. "But I will soon enjoy everything I am about to do to all of you."

He rapidly swung his swords again and charged at the Nicktoons. SpongeTron deflected three of the swords with his own beamsword while Tommy fired magical beams from his wand at SpongeCog 8 which he easily repelled with one of his swords.

Dani fired a large ecto-ball at SpongeCog 8 that knocked him back, but he quickly recovered and continued his onslaught on the Nicktoons. Timmy fired his star flinger and Darry fired ecto-beams from both his hands. But the robot deflected the blasts with two of his spinning swords.

Tammy wrapped her magical jumprope around one of the swords, but SpongeCog 8 suddenly lunged his sword toward her. Tammy gasped, unable to move, but Jimmy quickly grabbed a hold of her and pulled her out of the way.

"It's no use, guys!" Jimmy called to everyone as he held Tammy. "He's too much for us!"

Timmy was pushed into the wall by the heel of one of SpongeCog 8's sword that he was trying to block with his star-flinger. "Well, what else are we supposed to do?"

"Yes, what else?" SpongeCog 8 mockingly asked as he swung another sword at Darry, who blocked it with a blue shield. "It could've all been avoided if you'd have given to me the Target."

Suddenly, from above the ceiling, the air duct suddenly flew open and from out of it, jumped the mysterious figure in the blue robe that kicked SpongeCog 8 backwards away from the Nicktoons.

"What?" SpongeCog 8 questioned until he noticed the figure. "The Target?"

Everyone watched as the mysterious figure (who the Nicktoons already knew was Max and SpongeBorg together in disguise.) charged at SpongeCog 8. But the evil samurai rapidly swung two of his sword at him and cut his robe into shreds, leaving SpongeBorg to be revealed as his opponent.

SpongeBorg squealed in horror, but was suddenly stabbed by two of SpongeCog 8's swords and pinned against the wall. The Nicktoons gasp in horror at this, but mostly in fear for who was inside SpongeBorg. "NO!" Jimmy cried out.

SpongeCog 8 stood in front of the trapped SpongeBorg and coldly demanded, "I demand the Target."

"I see a target!" Darry's voice rang out as he flew toward him with his leg extended out. "Right on your face!" he kicked the robot away from SpongeBorg, letting him slide onto the ground.

"SpongeBorg!" SpongeTron cried out as he and Jimmy rushed over to him.

SpongeBorg seemed to moan as if he was in pain, but the robot quickly opened his head, reached inside, and pulled out Max, who seemed unharmed.

"SpongeBorg, are you okay?" Max asked in concern.

SpongeCog 8's eyes widen as he sees Max. "The Target!"

But Jimmy, SpongeTron, and Darry block the two from the evil robot with their weapons in hand.

SpongeCog 8 recovered from the ghost boy's earlier attack and aimed two of his swords at the three. "Very well," he said as he prepared to approach the three. "If this is how you want your lives to end…" The other Nicktoons were ready to back up their allies, but the robot aimed his two extra swords at them. "…I'll be content to comply."

He began to charge at the three Nicktoons, who stood their ground. But Max sat behind them, looking terrified by this and unleashed a loud scream, "AAAAAAAHHHH!" and all of a sudden, a strong force that churns the ground and heads forward in a straight line as if something was tunneling underneath at great speed. The shock wave was strong enough to knock Jimmy, Darry, and SpongeTron off their feet, and the shock wave soon blew away SpongeCog 8 down the hall, avoiding the others who quickly duck out of the way.

Jimmy, Darry, and SpongeTron begin to stand up on their feet while Max is staring horrified at what just happened.

SpongeCog 8 slowly stood up, using his swords as weight and looked toward the Nicktoons. "This isn't the end. Soon, the Target will be in our possession." He sliced a sword through a pipe hanging from the ceiling, releasing a lot of steam that covered him from view.

Timmy immediately rushed over to try and catch him, but once the steam cleared, the robot was gone and he growled in frustration while kicking the wall.

"Is everyone alright?" Dani asked.

"Other than being almost turned into sushi," Tommy answered cynically. "Yeah, I'm good."

Jimmy rushed over to Max, along with Tammy, and the genius places his hands on his shoulders. "Max, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Max causally answered as he stood up and dusted himself off. "I'm perfectly fine." But then, he suddenly winced and held his left arm.

Tammy carefully removed Max's hand and noticed a tear in his sleeve and a small graze in his skin from when one of SpongeCog 8's swords stabbed through SpongeBorg. "Oh no." Tammy gasped. "You're hurt."

"Don't worry about it." Max insisted as he backed away. "I said I'm fine."

But Tammy kept urging, "I'll have my dad give you some of Cosmo and Wanda's magic medicine."

"I SAID I'M FINE!" Max shouted loudly. "Now leave me alone!"

"Max, she's only trying to help!" Jimmy shouted angrily at him. "Besides, you shouldn't even be here anyway!"

"Yeah!" Darry intervened. "We told you not to come, and that you would be in danger if you did! And look what happened, you were nearly turned into 8's pincushion!"

They heard SpongeBorg beep, and they turn their heads to see SpongeTron using his torch-finger to weld SpongeBorg's damaged metal back together. "They're right." SpongeTron added. "You're lucky he missed you by an inch."

"By the way," Tommy began asking. "How did you do all that stuff before?"

Max's eyes widen. "What stuff?"

"You know, that stuff that defeated SpongeCog 8."

"That's right." Dani remembered. "You did that, didn't you?"

"Uh…no," Max answered nervously. "What would make you think that?"

"But it had to have been you." Darry insisted as he stood in front of Max. "It happened right when you yelled and you were right behind us when it happened."

Jimmy placed himself in front of his future son as well. "There IS something else you're not telling us, is there?"

Max glared and turned away from them. "No! And it's none of your business!"

Darry tried to reach out to him, "But Maxie, we just wanna-"

"I SAID NO!" Max yelled as he swung around. But as soon as he did, the same invisible force, knocked Jimmy and Darry both backwards and they slid across the ground.

"Guys!" Timmy shouted as he stopped to help them up.

Max gasped in horror as he covered his mouth, and then quickly ran away down the hall. "Max, wait!" Tammy shouted, but he refused to stop- even for the pleas of SpongeBorg.

Poof floated overhead as he looked toward the direction Max ran off. "Max…" and then flew down the hall.

"I told you that kid was no good." Timmy said. "He tried to hurt you guys."

"I'm still not certain of it, Timmy." Jimmy replied. "I don't think that was something Max voluntarily did."

SpongeBorg beeped sadly, but SpongeTron pat him on the back. "Don't worry. We'll find him. He can't have gone far."

"Still, we have to keep moving and find Platform." Dani suggested. "…before DarkEvil finds Max."

Jimmy nodded. "You're right. Let's go, Nicktoons."

Wanda looked around and asked, "Has anyone seen Poof?"

_Leaving your protectors and running away in a dark hall where a villain lives is never a good thing, is it? Please review what you think and look out for the next chapter._


	14. Chapter 13: Dress for Success

_And now, here's the new chapter for "Nicktoons: The Final Countdown". Last time, Max displayed an incredible power that saved the Nicktoons. But he was reluctant to tell them about it and ran off into DarkEvil's lair. Will the Nicktoons find him before the villains do?_

Chapter 13: Dress for Success

In the dark hallways of DarkEvil's hideout in the Chum Bucket, Max was walking by himself with an upset frown on his face. "Why did that have to happen?" he said to himself disgruntled. "It's bad enough everybody saw, but I almost hurt Jimmy and Scottie."

He growled in frustration and fell to his knees. "Why does this have to happen?" he cried out, covering his eyes. "Why can't I do any of this right? I still can't even control my own powers!"

"Max?" a strange voice called out.

Max lifted his head and gasped quietly, recognizing the voice. He stared ahead to see a tall figure standing in the shadows.

"Max, is that you?" the voice from the figure called out once again.

"Dad…" Max said in astonishment as he stood up. "You're here!"

He smiled and laughed merrily as he ran over to Future Jimmy and embraced him in a warm hug as he closed his eyes in joy. His father bent over and returned the hug.

"Oh Max…" he said in a soft tone. "I'm so glad I finally found you…" with his arms gently wrapped around Max's back, his left hand began to turn into a red claw as he spoke, "…and that you're safe."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the Nicktoons were walking down the halls, trying to find DarkEvil LaserPants and Platform. Jimmy followed the group from behind and seemed to be sulking. Dani was the only one who noticed and walked over with him.<p>

"What's wrong, Jimmy?" she asked, "Upset about Max?"

"Yeah, a bit." Jimmy answered. "I guess I'm just a little nervous since he's by himself in an evil villain's lair, he can be in some serious trouble. I just hope where ever he is he's okay."

Dani smiled a bit. "Guess your fatherly instincts are taking over, huh?"

Jimmy blushed and chuckled sheepishly. "Is it?"

"But quit worrying so much. We all wanna help Max just as much as you do, but we can't do that if your head's not in the game. So use all that brain power you have and lead us to victory."

Jimmy turned his head from her and smirked. "Yeah…I think I will." He then whistled and caught the rest of the group's attention. "Darry, I need you to take everyone and look on ahead to see if you can find anything that might help us."

Darry smiled and nodded, "Sure thing, Jim. You can count on us."

He, Tammy, Tommy, SpongeTron, and SpongeBorg all laughed in excitement and ran down the hall to do as they were ordered. But Timmy walked over to Jimmy with a skeptical look.

"Alright, Neutron, what's the big idea?" Timmy asked with his arms crossed. "What's the point of sending the kids away?"

"It's only for a few minutes. If they get into trouble, they can handle themselves." Jimmy answered as he turned around and began reaching in his backpack until he pulled out his hypercube. "I just need to get ready."

"Get ready for what?" Dani asked, suspiciously. "You need to dress formally to take down a bad guy?"

"Something like that." Jimmy answered as he pulled out a familiar device from his hypercube.

Timmy's eyes widen as he sees the white helmet, gloves, and boots. "No way." he asked in shock. "Is that what I think it is?"

"That's correct." Jimmy responded solemnly as he put on the boots and gloves. "My Neutronic Mech-Suit."

"How long have you had that thing with you?" Timmy demanded to know.

Jimmy answered as he organized the suit. "I had Goddard deliver it to me before we left. I thought it might come in handy."

"But Jimmy," Dani began saying hesitantly. "Does that thing still have those side-effects?"

Jimmy stayed silent and placed the power pack over his back. Timmy yelled out, "Jimmy, you can't do this! We almost lost you the last time you used that thing!"

"I know, Timmy." Jimmy answered as he turned around and placed the helmet on his head. "The only time I ever really use this thing is for urgent situations, and this one certainly calls for it."

Dani got close to him and franticly begged, "Please take it off, Jimmy! We'll think of something else!"

Jimmy moved her away and responded acutely, "I'm sorry, but I can't. This is the only chance we have of standing against DarkEvil when he has Platform." Then he smiled, "Besides, now that I'm older, the effects of the suit shouldn't have a serious toll on me like it did last time."

The two still didn't look convinced until Tammy's voice was heard, "Jimmy!" They turn to see the kids running from down the hall, looking excited about something, "Jimmy, I think we found it!"

But they all stop when they see Jimmy, wearing his Neutronic Mech-Suit. "Hey…" Tommy said with a smile. "Awesome suit!"

"Is that the Mech-Suit?" Tammy asked in the same manner.

Jimmy sheepishly smiled and answered, "Uh- yeah, this is the one."

"Wicked-gnarly, my dad told me about it." Darry said excitedly. "But…he did tell something about it that he didn't like…what was it again?"

None of the kids seemed to notice that SpongeTron was the only one not admiring Jimmy's suit. But Dani soon interrupted them. "Okay, okay, what was it that you wanted to tell us?"

"We found a large door up ahead." Tammy explained. "We think DarkEvil may be behind it, but we didn't wanna check without you guys in case it was."

"Don't worry, guys." Jimmy said with a nod and smile. "We'll take this together. Let's go."

Jimmy led the others down the hall while SpongeTron elbowed Timmy to get his attention. The teen bent down and the robot whispered in his ear, "That mech-suit. It's not THE Neutronic Mech-Suit that can drain the user's life-energy from exertion of power, is it?"

"Yeah…" Timmy responded callously. "Let's just hope that Neutron really is tougher than he used to be."

They soon reached the large steel door that the kids were talking about, and it was closed tightly shut. Darry knocked on it and said, "This is nothing. Dani and I can phase you all in, no problem."

"Wait a second, Dar." Jimmy called out to stop him. "Why don't you let me give it go? It has been a while since I used this thing."

"Aright." Darry said as he excitedly stepped out of Jimmy's way. "Go for it!"

Jimmy walked in front of the door while Dani shouted, "But Jimmy, are you sure?"

"I'll be fine." The genius assured as he placed his gloved-palms on the surface of the doors and closed his eyes. Suddenly, the pack of his suit beeped and door slowly began to budge.

When the doors was now opened a crack, the others stared mystified when the doors suddenly flung open at lightening fast speed, banging against the walls with the hinges almost coming off.

"Whoa!" Tommy shouted in astonishment while his sister smiled. "That was awesome!"

"Totally!" Darry shouted with the same reaction.

Jimmy turned around and moved his arm around to stretch it. "See? Nothing to it."

Timmy, Dani, and SpongeTron all gave a sigh of relief to see their leader and friend was still okay. The group walked in through a small tunnel that led into the room, and once they stepped inside a large room, a familiar cold malicious voice rang out.

"Nicktoons…long time no see."

They look up to see DarkEvil sitting on top of a red chair that was sitting in front of five monitors that was attached to a large device in the middle of the room.

He stared down at the group and continued speaking, "Jimmy Neutron from the past, have you gotten taller? It's been so long I could barely tell." Then he noticed the Darry, SpongeTron, Tammy, and Tommy. "And I see you're with them."

Darry cleared his voice and shouted, "We've got you outnumbered, LaserPants! So tell us where Platform is!"

"'Where Platform is?'" DarkEvil questioned with a laugh. "I don't need to tell you. It's right in front of you."

It now that the group had noticed that the large device that DarkEvil was sitting upon resembled a raygun that looked like the picture Max had drawn of Platform.

"That's Platform." Jimmy realized as he stared at the device in awe.

"Correct." DarkEvil said as he held out the instruction book. "A powerful device created by your own future self. Capable of altering a whole universe to whatever the operator desires. Quite a wonderful toy you made."

"I'm still wondering how he was able to hide something that big down here." Tommy mentioned.

"It doesn't matter anyway!" Tammy shouted out. "Because Platform can only be activated by a code, and without the code, he can use it!"

"A code?" DarkEvil questioned sarcastically. "Oh yes, the only reason I can't get it to work is because it's locked with a security code, and it's only something the creator knows. However…he isn't the only one who knows the code."

Timmy glared at him. "You're not getting your absorbent yellow hands on Max ever! So you might as well give yourself up!"

"I love to break it to you…but I already have." DarkEvil pointed over to the left, and the group followed his finger to see Max laying down unconscious on a table with his body chained up and was unconscious.

"MAX!" they all shouted.

Jimmy tried to rush over to him with SpongeBorg, but SpongeCogs 8, 10, and 13 jump out in front of the table and block him from taking another step. SpongeBorg shivered behind Jimmy's legs.

"That's right, squishies!" SpongeCog taunted as he too stepped out in front of them. "The Target is ours now and Platform belongs to my master!"

Jimmy gritted his teeth and stepped forward. "Give him back or you'll be sorry!"

"Oh really?" SpongeCog asked skeptically. "With what? Your battle suit? I'm not gonna let that thing defeat me like last time."

But SpongeTron quickly ran in between them and held his arms out to defend Jimmy from his evil twin. "No! I won't let you cause Jimmy to over-exert himself!"

"SpongeTron, what are you talking about?" Darry asked, confused by SpongeTron thinking someone like Jimmy could tire himself out by fighting SpongeCog.

But SpongeCog simply laughed and turned his right arm into a raygun and fired at the two. Jimmy quickly rushed in front of SpongeTron and generated a shield from his gloves. SpongeCog growled in frustration, but with lightning fast speed, Jimmy zoomed over and punched the evil robot across the room.

SpongeCog sat up and rubbed his head while Jimmy's hands charge up with electricity. "Time for a blast from your past, Sponge…Cog…" But before he could fire the attack, it powered down and Jimmy suddenly fell on his knee weakly.

"Jimmy!" Dani, Tammy, Timmy, and SpongeTron cry out as they rush over to him.

"What's wrong?" Tammy asked franticly as she held him.

"It's the suit, isn't it?" Timmy realized as he ran over. "You have to take it off!"

"The suit?" Darry questioned until his eyes widen in realization. "Wait a minute, Dad didn't mean that…"

"Don't worry." Jimmy weakly said as he held his head up with a weak smile. "I just have to get used to wearing it."

DarkEvil watched the whole thing from atop Platform and commented, "What a nice performance. You can still stand a chance against my pathetic robot, yet your suit still drains you like a battery. This should be interesting."

Just then, Max began to open his eyes and he looked ahead to notice his past dad and the Nicktoons. "Jimmy?" he asked in a low tone.

"We're not leaving without Max!" Darry shouted to the villain. "So let him go!"

"Oh, I'll let him go." DarkEvil calmly responded. "Once I get that code!"

"I'll never tell you the code!" Max shouted out as he sat up on the table. "I'm keeping my promise to Dad and I'll never break it!"

DarkEvil turned to him and retorted, "I think you will…with a little convincing."

Once Jimmy heard this, he immediately stood up and fiercely reacted, "If you hurt one hair on his head, I'm gonna-" but once he took a step forward, he fell flat on the ground.

"Don't fret, Neutron. I'm not gonna kill him." DarkEvil pointed out. "After all, I can't get the code if he's dead. Plus I can't get the code if you're all in the way." He snapped his fingers and said, "8 and 13, take them to the prison hold." He pointed to SpongeCog, "You and 10 stay here and help me."

Timmy and Darry pull the semi-conscious Jimmy up over their shoulders and SpongeCogs 13 and 8 push the group out the door. But as he went out, SpongeBorg turned his head backwards and stared at Max, trying to look strong, despite knowing what he was about to face.

_If there's one way to make a person confess, it's torture mwa-ha-ha-ha! But not on Max! NO! Please review what you think so far._


	15. Chapter 14: Five Friends, One Team

_Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for. Last time, Max was captured, the Nicktoons were captured, everyone's doomed…maybe._

_Enjoy…_

Chapter 14: Five Friends, One Team

Later on, after failing to retrieve Platform from DarkEvil LaserPants and seeing that he has Max held captive in order to get the unlock code from him, Jimmy and the Nicktoons were brought to a prison cell by two SpongeCog robots.

SpongeCog 13 pushed Darry, Timmy, SpongeTron, and Jimmy into a large dark cell that had a laser door which 13 activated once they were inside. SpongeCog 8 also put SpongeBorg, Tammy, Tommy, and Dani inside a cell next to them.

"Are you gonna be okay, Jimmy?" Timmy asked as he held onto the genius's arm.

"Maybe you should sit down." Darry suggested as he and Timmy lower Jimmy down with his back leaning against the wall.

"Don't worry about me." Jimmy with a weak smile. "I'll be fine. I'm just a little worn out."

"Well, just try and take it easy until we can find a way out of here." Timmy demanded. "The worst thing that can happen is if we lost you again."

"No…" Darry said with a worried look. "That suit can't really kill you, can it?"

"There's only a 25% chance of that." Jimmy honestly answered. "But I promise you that nothing like that will happen. Trust me, Dar."

Darry smiled and replied, "I do trust you."

"Jimmy?" SpongeTron's voice called out. "Timmy, is that you?"

Timmy turned to SpongeTron and answered, "Of course it's us. Who do you think we are?"

But SpongeTron looked confused. "That wasn't me."

All of a sudden, the lights in the cell switched on, and the four look ahead to see a square yellow sponge with blue eyes; wearing a white shirt with his collar hanging out and red tie undone, a black vest, brown pants with no belt, and long socks with black shoes. He was standing near the back wall with his hand on the light switch.

Jimmy and Timmy immediately recognize him. "SpongeBob!" Timmy yelled out in shock.

"Creator!" SpongeTron cried out in happiness as he rushed over to SpongeBob. "I'm so glad I found you!"

He hugged SpongeBob tightly as the sponge smiled and returned his hug. "Wow, SpongeTron, I didn't expect to see you here too."

SpongeTron got on one knee and bowed his head. "We were worried about you, Creator. I thought we might find you here. But I was worried about your safety."

SpongeBob giggled and pulled SpongeTron to his feet. "No need to be so worried. I may be held captive here by DarkEvil LaserPants, but I'm perfectly fine."

Then he walked over to Jimmy and Timmy with a cheerful smile and hugged them both. "I can't believe it's really you guys. You've gotten so big I hardly recognize you."

Jimmy smiled and returned his hug. "It's nice to see you too, SpongeBob. Is Danny with you?"

"Why, yes he is." SpongeBob pointed behind. "But he actually passed out over there an hour ago. I did too until I heard you guys come in."

They follow his direction to see a bed in the back of the room against the wall. Lying on top of it was Danny Fenton, facing the wall and fast asleep. He looked the same as SpongeCog did when he was disguised as him, but this was definitely the real Danny.

"Dad!" Darry cried out happily as he rushed over to Danny and began to shake him awake. "Dad, Dad, wake up! We've come to save you!"

Danny groaned and his eyelids twitch. "Just five more minutes…"

Darry just continued shaking Danny awake. "DAD, WAKE UP!"

Danny's eyes open wide as he sat up. "What?" he rubs his eyes and turns around. "SpongeBob, what's wrong?"

"Dad!" Darry hugs the half-awake Danny. "I'm so glad we finally found you!" he rubs his head against Danny's shoulder with a large smile. "You have no idea how worried I was. Mom was worried too, and so were Grandma and Grandpa."

"D-Darry?" Danny asked in shock, now fully aware of what was happening around him. "Is that really you?"

"I knew I'd find you, Dad." Darry said to him, still gripping on. "And it's all thanks to Jimmy."

"'Jimmy'?" Danny turns his head to see Jimmy, Timmy, and SpongeTron. "I'm not dreaming, am I?"

Then they heard a knock on the wall. "Jimmy!" Dani's voice called out from the other side. "Are you in there?"

"Danielle?" Danny quickly got up from the bed and stood in front of the wall connected to the other cell. "You're here too?"

"Danny!" Dani's voice shouted in relief. "You're here! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Danny shouted back to her. "In fact, I'm better than I have been these past few days!"

SpongeBob walked over to him and got his attention. "Danny, can you believe that they're here."

"No," Danny answered with a smile. "I definitely can't."

Timmy sighed and crossed his arms. "So this is where you two have been all this time. Do you know what we've been through?"

"Sorry, Timmy," Danny said with a chuckle, "Didn't mean to make our reunion such a hassle." Then he noticed Jimmy sitting on the ground. "Jimmy, you got taller."

"Thanks for actually noticing." Jimmy replied with a smile.

"This stinks!" Tommy shouted from the other cell. "You guys get Danny and SpongeBob for cellmates and all we get is Plankton!"

He was right, and on top of the bed in their cell, Plankton was sitting on top. "Hey!" he shouted. "I didn't invite you brats to come in!"

"Oh yeah," Danny said with a sigh. "We've had the pleasure of his company this whole time."

"Plankton?" Jimmy asked as he tried to sit up, but was still weakened by the suit, so he had to crawl over to the wall."

"Still playing with dangerous toys, Neutron?" Danny asked as he stared.

"Old habits die hard." Jimmy grunted as he made it to the wall, and started knocking on it. "Plankton, can you hear me?"

SpongeTron rushed over to the wall. "Here, let me handle it." His finger suddenly sparked a laser from the tip and he used it to weld a tiny hole in the wall that connected to the other cell. "That should help."

Jimmy peeked through the hole and spotted Plankton in the other cell with Tommy, Tammy, Dani, and SpongeBorg. "Oh goody…" Plankton said in a sarcastic tone after hearing Jimmy's voice. "The rest of you brats are here, as if SpongeBob and the ghost brat weren't enough."

"But what are you doing in here?" Tammy asked him.

"And what happened to the Chum Bucket?" Tommy asked also.

"Oh, believe me when I say 'I have nothing to do with this'." Plankton began explaining. "I was just minding my own business, plotting my next move when all of a sudden, DarkEvil LaserPants showed up with four robots and inserted something called a 'demo chip' into Karen's hard drive. After that, this whole place changed. I myself kinda like it, but I haven't heard from Karen since and he locked me down here while he does Neptune knows what up there."

"Demo chip?" Jimmy questioned after the explanation.

But SpongeBorg quickly rushed to the hole and began beeping franticly which no one understood why- except SpongeTron who listened carefully to him. "You don't say." The older robot repeated.

"What?" Darry asked anxiously. "What?"

"SpongeBorg says that the demo chip Plankton is talking about is actually a fraction of Platform's technology." SpongeTron explained. "Max's dad created it in order to test the machine's power. But while the chip can do this much, it's not nearly as powerful as Platform."

"So that's what the whole 'Platform' thing DarkEvil was talking about before is." Danny realized.

"If this is what a demo chip can do," Timmy thought out loud. "Then imagine what the actual machine can do."

"Alright, that's it!" Darry shouted as he sat up from the bed. "I'm getting us out of here!"

Darry took a few steps back and began running toward the laser field door. Danny immediately stood up and shouted, "Darry, wait! Don't-"

However, Darry had already turned intangible and attempted to phase through the door, only for it to painfully shock him as he screamed. He fell onto the ground and changed back into human form as he squirmed around.

"Darry!" SpongeTron shouted out as he rushed over to him.

Danny looked dumfounded as he sat back down on the bed. But SpongeBob commented, "I wouldn't worry. Danny tried the same thing when he got here, so he'll be alright."

"Okay guys," Dani called out to them. "If we're not going ghost out of here, what are we supposed to do?"

SpongeBorg beeped to them through the hole while SpongeTron listened to him. "Yeah…you're right."

"Right about what?" Darry asked as he sat on the ground, recovered.

"SpongeBorg's worried about Max." SpongeTron explained. "He's probably being tortured by DarkEvil to get that code."

"Who's Max?" SpongeBob asked.

"My son." Jimmy answered without a second thought.

SpongeBob's eyes widen with a look of astonishment. "Ooooh."

Then Danny suddenly asked, "This Max wouldn't be short, blonde, and loud, would he?"

"Yeah?" Timmy answered with a look of surprise.

"How do you know, Dad?" Darry asked.

"Before I ended up here, I kinda had a run in with him." Danny began to explain with a look of thought. "It was when those robots suddenly invaded. I was fighting that vicious feral one, and he suddenly began to attack that blonde kid. I managed to protect him and fight that robot off. But somehow…I knew it wasn't me who delivered that final blow to it.

"When I talked to the kid to make sure he was alright. He asked if I was "Scottie's dad". I don't even know who Scottie is. But anyway, I offered to help him find his parents. But he just yelled that he didn't need my help with anything. Then he screamed and ran away- and I found out at what until it was too late. A giant hulking robot snuck up behind me and knocked me out. Next thing I knew, I'm here."

After Danny finished, Jimmy pondered over this while Darry sighed, "I guess Max doesn't appreciate anyone's help."

"Hang on a second." Jimmy spoke out. "Don't you remember the last time we helped Max? Something…strange happened with him."

SpongeBob raised an eyebrow. "What can be so strange about one little boy?"

Then they hear SpongeBorg beeping frantically on the other side of the wall as he pounded his claw on the metal surface. SpongeTron listened to him and began to translate for the others.

"He says that Max is special." The robot explained. "There's something Max has because of his incredibly high intellect that no other genius can do, but he's so scared about it that he doesn't share it with anyone. And since he has trouble controlling it, he's afraid that all he would do is end up hurting everyone and that they would hate him."

Timmy realized, "So Max IS hiding something." He pointed out. "And that something is whatever he did before."

"You don't think that something is actually…" Darry said as his eyes widen. "Psychic, right?"

Jimmy narrowed his eyes in determination. "We have to get out of here, but how?" he wondered as he now easily stood up. "I still don't have enough power yet to open the door."

But then they see a silhouette of a tall person standing on the other side of the door, and silently watch as the figure stands there. "Jimmy?" Dani's voice called out. "Is everything okay there?"

Jimmy didn't respond and instead raised his fists in order to defend himself. Danny held Darry back as white rings appeared around his waist, changing him into ghost form, which looked the same as before except for physical changes. He glared and prepared to help his friend fight.

Suddenly, the laser force field door disappeared, the person who stepped into view was not who they expected. It was a young man with dark skin, purple face paint over his eyes, long messy brown hair that went to his shoulders, a yellow feather on top of his head, a purple cape, raggedy brown loincloth, and brown fur on his lower legs with bear paws stretched over his feet.

Timmy immediately recognized him. "Tak…is that you?"

In fact it was Tak at age eighteen. "It's about time I found you guys." He said with a chuckle as he leaned against the wall. "Of course, I couldn't have done it without this little guy." He held out his hand which Poof was sitting on.

"Poof find, Poof find!" Poof squealed in delight and floated into Timmy's arms, and then to his parents.

The group quickly exited the cell, and Jimmy ran over to the other cell to let out Dani, Tammy, Tommy, and SpongeBorg. After which, Danielle immediately ran over to Danny and hugged him, thankful he was alright. Darry and Tommy ran up the stairs to scout ahead.

Timmy glared at Tak and angrily asked, "Where have you been all this time? We thought something bad happened to you too."

"Something bad did happen to me- sorta." Tak sheepishly answered. "This robot attacked my village trying to find a target- whatever that is. Then when we finally chased it out, my Recaller suddenly activated, so I left to try and find out what was going on. I was hoping I would run into you guys at one point, and here we are!" then he glanced at the teen genius. "Jimmy, did you get-"

"Taller?" Jimmy finished, sounding annoyed. "Yes, I did."

"Well, now that we're all reacquainted, how about we go upstairs and stop DarkEvil?" Danny suggested. "I mean we are the Nicktoons, aren't we?"

"The Nicktoons!" SpongeBob shouted in excitement. "All right! We're back!"

"Don't get your hopes too high, guys." Timmy warned jokingly. "Neutron doesn't wanna be a Nicktoon anymore after this."

"What?" SpongeBob, Danny, and Tak both asked in surprise.

"No, no, it's not that." Jimmy feebly assured. "If I recall, the reason we ended it was-"

Before he could finish, Darry and Tommy came back from upstairs. "No one's guarding up ahead." Darry told everyone.

"We can go save Max if we hurry." Tommy added.

"Alright everyone," Jimmy said with a nod. "Let's discuss our associations later. Right now, let's unite to save my future son from that mad sea sponge who intends to use a powerful machine to take over the world."

Timmy, Danny, SpongeBob, and Tak soon smile afterwards and nod. Followed by Darry, Tammy, Tommy, and SpongeTron, who all smile and giggle.

As the group followed Darry and Tommy upstairs, from inside the cell, Plankton called, "Hey wait…I'm still stuck in here!"

_Danny, SpongeBob, and Tak! WHOO-HOO!" Time to rescue Max and stop the evil villain from the future. How long do you think do you think it'll be till something happens? Please review what you think?_


	16. Chapter 15: Give In For You

_Here's the next chapter of "Nicktoons: The Final Countdown". This chapter has a shout-out to one of the greatest fics out there. I salute you._

_Enjoy the chapter…_

Chapter 15: Give In For You

In the main room where Platform was being held, Max's body was still chained up and was lying on top of the metal table, breathing heavily in exhaustion from everything he was going through as robots torture him to get him to divulge the code to unlock Platform.

"Feel like confessing now?" SpongeCog asked fiercely.

Max continued panting until he glared and spoke in an equally fierce voice, "…No."

SpongeCog growled as he signaled to SpongeCog 13, and the large robot pushed a button that caused the chains around Max to start shocking him as he screamed in pain.

"How about now?" SpongeCog asked with an evil smirk. "Wanna talk this time?"

As Max screamed in pain at the electricity over his body, he blurted out, "N-N-Ne…NEVER!"

SpongeCog signaled to 13 again, and the large robot pushed the button again which stopped the shocks. Max looked close to crying, but the stubborn boy did his best to hold in his tears.

"What's taking so long?" DarkEvil shouted in anger from on top of Platform. "I need that code now!"

"We're trying, Master." SpongeCog explained. "But this squishy refuses to tell us no matter what we do to him; electrical sensory, smelling the starfish's socks, force-feeding Plankton's chum, beating him up; nothing works."

SpongeCog 13 once again tried the latter by picking Max up in his fist and banging him on the table repeatedly as he dimly said, "Code, code, code."

As 13 dropped him on the table, SpongeCog 10 reached up and started growled at him as he drew his teeth near Max. But SpongeCog 8 pulled him down by his extension cord tail as he spoke, "We will not need that. Perhaps we should try a different method that is more…persuasive."

The samurai robot poked one of his swords out from his robe as Max stared in horror. "I'm certain that if he lost one of his limbs, he'll agree to cooperate." 8 spoke coldly as he aimed the sword at Max. "If not…we'll just keep cutting until there's nothing left."

Max closed his eyes in fear as SpongeCog 8 prepared to swing his katana. He wished his powers would activate to protect himself, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't summon them, which annoyed him since all the other times he hadn't tried, they would activate much to his displeasure.

But then, a blue ecto-beam suddenly fired and knocked SpongeCog 8's sword away from the boy. The robots all turned to where the attack came from, and they see Darry Phantom standing at the doorway with his right fist glowing blue.

"Don't…touch him." He said in a furious tone.

DarkEvil LaserPants looked down below to see the Nicktoons walk inside the room with their weapons in hand. "You've escaped imprisonment, big surprise." He said sarcastically, but then he noticed Danny, SpongeBob, and Tak with them. "And you've got the rest of your little team with you."

"We're not so little anymore, LaserPants." Tak said with a glare.

"And we're not gonna let you pick on little kids anymore." Timmy added in the same manner.

Danny began saying, "So either you come quietly…"

"Or we beat the pants off of you like last time." SpongeBob finished as he made a karate pose.

"Nice threats, Nicktoons." DarkEvil said with ice in his voice. "But I'm not done getting the code yet, and I'm determined even more to get it out of that pointy-haired brat."

Max once again tried to struggle out of his binds, but still had no luck whatsoever. "But with you older brats in my way, this will be much difficult." DarkEvil snapped his fingers. "Get rid of them."

At this, the four SpongeCog robots charged at the Nicktoons while the group readied themselves for battle. "Nicktoons Unite!" Jimmy shouted as the group splits up to take on the robots.

SpongeCog 13 roared as he charged straight at Danny, his feet cracking the ground with each stomp. Danny just narrowed his eyes as he stood there. "I've been waiting for this rematch." He said to himself.

When SpongeCog 13 approached him, he took a large swing at Danny, but the young half-ghost man suddenly vanished into black mist, confusing the dim robot as he blinked and stared. But Danny suddenly reappeared with the same black mist and gave a hard kick to SpongeCog 13. The muscular robot growled in anger and tried to grab Danny again, but he disappeared into black mist again and reappeared, pounded his fist on top of 13.

Timmy witnessed the whole thing and looked amazed. "Nice moves, Phantom!"

"What?" Danny asked with a smile as he floated in the air. "You thought I wouldn't have learned any new tricks these past couple years?" he quickly turned around and fired a ghost ray at SpongeCog 13.

SpongeCog 8 swung one of his swords at Tammy, who quickly swung her jump rope around the blade to stop it. Tommy fired magical rays out of his laser while the robot deflected every shot with two of his swords. When the fourth sword swung at him, Jimmy quickly moved in front of Tommy and grabbed the blade with his two gloved palms, trying as hard as he could to hold it.

SpongeCog laughed maniacally as he jumped up and swung his claw at SpongeTron. The good robot quickly moved to the side, having SpongeCog's claw scratch the metal floor. SpongeTron quickly pulled a beamsword from his arm.

"You and those fleshbags won't stop my master's plans." SpongeCog said with a smirk as he turned to SpongeBorg, who was just standing there, watching everything. "And since you all just so insist on meddling in with us getting that code," He raised a claw as he approached SpongeBorg. "We'll have to slice you open and spill all your innards to teach you what happens when you mess with us."

SpongeBorg screeched with his arms up and ran away while SpongeTron swung his beamsword at SpongeCog to block his path.

"I won't let you do that- for two reasons!" SpongeTron shouted. "One: because I'd never let you hurt my friends! And two: because that's really gross…"

"That's because humans are really gross." But then there was a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to see SpongeBob, holding up his large karate gloved-fist.

"Not all of us are human!" SpongeBob shouted as he punched the evil robot in the face, knocking him far away. SpongeTron smiled in admiration and giggled.

Max was watching the whole fight on the table he was sitting on until a black-gloved hand grabbed the chains around him and yanked him off the table. SpongeBorg witnessed this and ran away, beeping in panic.

Timmy held up his green hammer to block SpongeCog 10, who was savagely chewing on the handle with his sharp teeth in order to get at Timmy. Cosmo laughed, "That tickles!"

Timmy began to struggle to keep the vicious SpongeCog away, but then Dani flew over and grabbed SpongeCog 10 by his tail and used it to flip him over onto his back. "Bad robot!" she shouted.

"Sit!" Tak ordered with a smirk as he fired a beam from his staff that hit 10 and flopped him on his back.

Danny's hand began to glow green as he used his ghost manipulation to easily lift SpongeCog 13 into the air. As he held him up, Darry suddenly flew forward and gave the large robot a hard kick toward the ground. Then Danny's hands glow blue and he uses his ice powers to freeze SpongeCog 13 in a large block of ice. Darry lands next to his past dad and the two high-five.

SpongeBorg reached Jimmy, while the genius deflected another of SpongeCog 8's swings, and started beeping franticly to get his attention. Jimmy finally turned around and noticed him. "What is it, SpongeBorg?"

The little robot pointed upward, and Jimmy followed his gaze to see DarkEvil climbing back up the ladder to the top of Platform with Max in tow. Jimmy shouted in shock, "Max!"

"Don't even move." DarkEvil threatened as he placed Max on the side next to the ladder and aimed his beamsword near Max's throat.

The rest of the Nicktoons noticed this and immediately stopped attacking their enemies which allowed the evil robots to gain the upper-hand. SpongeCog 8 aimed each of his swords at Tammy, Tommy, Danny, and Tak. SpongeCog 10 circled Timmy and Dani as he growled like a vicious predator. And the SpongeCog leader giddily held SpongeTron on the ground as he kept one foot on his back and grasped onto his head. SpongeBob attempted to help, but SpongeCog extended his arm and pushed the sponge to the ground.

Darry was about to fly up to him, but Jimmy held him back for everyone's safety. DarkEvil kept the beamsword held at Max's throat while the boy held his eyes tightly shut and tried his best to look fearless.

"Now, how about telling me that code?" DarkEvil asked Max.

"You're crazy!" Darry hollered at him.

"I'm not crazy." DarkEvil simply responded. "All I want is that code."

"I don't care what you do to me!" Max shouted in response, "I'll never tell you the code!"

DarkEvil moved his beamsword away and said, "Is that so? Well, I think I know who will convince you otherwise." He snapped his fingers, "13!"

Suddenly, the ice around the frozen robot began to crack, and SpongeCog 13 growled as he broke apart the ice and stomped over to Jimmy, shoving Darry aside, and grabbing Jimmy's neck into his fist.

"NO!" Darry shouted on the ground.

"JIMMY!" the rest of the Nicktoons cried while Max's eyes widen in shock.

They all watch in horror as SpongeCog 13's large fist tightens around Jimmy's neck while the genius gagged and tried to break lose. However, 13 used his other hands to restrain his arms together to keep him from breaking free with his Mech-Suit. The others wanted to break away from their SpongeCog captors to help their friend and leader, but DarkEvil made sure of their hesitation by keeping his beamsword aimed at Max, threatening his life as well if they intervened.

"Well, kid, what's it gonna be?" DarkEvil coldly asked. "The code or your father?"

Max stared in horror as SpongeCog 13's grip slowly tightened around his past father's neck, giving him only less than a minute to live.

"This isn't gonna work, DarkEvil!" Tak shouted to the evil sponge. "If you kill Jimmy, Max will be gone as well! Which means you won't get the code either way!"

"You think I don't know that?" DarkEvil simply replied. "This is all up to the Target here. Will he be able to cope with the fact that he is responsible for his father's death and his own demise because he refused to tell me some little 'ol code?"

As Max stared down at his past dad's jugular being crushed, his eyes begin to water and he whispered, "Jimmy…"

Jimmy opened one eye and glanced up at Max. "…Max…" he struggled to say, "…don't…"

Max shut his eyes tightly, letting his tears run down his face before screaming, "STOP!"

At this, SpongeCog 13 stopped squeezing Jimmy's neck and everyone glanced up at him as Max finally said, "I'll do it."

"Excellent." DarkEvil said in satisfaction as he moved away from Max and pushed a button on Platform's keyboard with made an image appear on one of the screens, asking for the passcode.

SpongeBob glanced up at 13 still holding a tight grip on Jimmy's neck. Then the sponge quickly sat up out of SpongeCog's grasp, and shouted, "Stop it!"

13 heard this and loosened his grip on Jimmy, allowing the genius to breathe again. SpongeCog growled angrily at this, but SpongeTron managed to push his evil counterpart off of him and rush to his creator's aid, helping him up. SpongeBorg stared up at Max in worry, too scared to even help the others.

"The code is…" Max reluctantly began, "4 18 3 14 79."

As DarkEvil typed this onto Platform's keyboard, Jimmy closed his eyes in discontent, but opened them once again to surprisingly hear Max continue, "10 26 0 5 7 24…"

Tommy's eyes widened as he watched the whole thing and listened to Max, "43 68 23 11 34 68 22 24…"

"Whoa," Timmy said in awe as he listened.

"546 6 21 5 1 99 7 18…" Max recited as DarkEvil continued to type everything he said on the keyboard.

"Holy…" Darry also said awestruck.

"10 23 0 7 7 14 86 320 58 1 4 3 7 7…"

"Uh…" SpongeBob stammered, dumbfounded.

"0 70,1000,43 4 28 79 3 4,1600,25 23 5 9 12 11 13 1 8 14 0 0 33 9 58 252 1 1106 3 8 15 49 7 4 11…"

"Pss," Tak whispered to Danny. "Is THAT supposed to be a secret code?"

As Max continued to recite numbers, Danny shrugged while Tammy responded, "How is Max able to remember something like that?"

They suddenly hear SpongeBorg beeping a possible explanation, but were not able to understand anything. Luckily, SpongeTron was available to translate for them, "SpongeBorg says that Max's dad was the one who came up with that code to keep Platform from being operational."

"Of course." Dani said brightly. "It's the ideal code. No one, except someone with a genius IQ could remember a code that long, and to use it to lock up a machine that powerful, that's the perfect way to do it."

Darry began to understand as well, and said, "And Max is that 'someone' other than the inventor. That's why his dad trusted him with the code, because Max is able to remember it." He looked over at SpongeTron, "Right?"

"That's basically it." SpongeTron replied.

"But why use just a bunch of random numbers?" Tammy asked. "He can't possibly remember all that even if he is a genius?"

SpongeBorg beeped again which SpongeTron translated, "That's because they're not just a bunch of random numbers. They all relate to something: The day Jimmy moved to Retroville, Albert Einstein's birthday, the day he met Timmy, Danny, and SpongeBob, and there's the day Tak was recruited, his parents' names written in Morse code, the number of inventions he made in eight months, Max's birthday, the day SpongeBob-"

"Okay," Danny interrupted. "We get the idea."

Whether they knew or not, Jimmy was listening to them talk behind them, and was just as impressed as they were at the security code his future self came up with for his invention. He continued to listen to his future son still reciting the code while DarkEvil typed in every number he listed.

"8 9 55 37 14 300 6 9 11 0 6 90 6 3 92…" Max took a pause and finished, "3.14."

DarkEvil chuckled and pushed the 'enter' key. After which, the word appeared on screen, 'Password Accepted'. "Yes!" DarkEvil shouted in triumph as the machine began to whir and the computer screens light up. "YES!"

"No," Max quietly said until he shouted, "NO!"

Danny witnessed this and glared at his captor before secretly making his fists glow green. Suddenly, SpongeCog 8's body began to glow green, much to his surprise. Danny moved his fingers in a certain motion, and this caused 8's swords to move away from him and his friends. Then the half-ghost swung his arms back which shoved 8 backwards into the wall.

"Let's go!" Danny shouted as he, Tammy, Tommy, and Tak rush forward.

Tak fired a beam out of his staff and hit SpongeCog 10, shrinking him down to the size of a bug. SpongeBob picked him up and smiled. "Aww," he said in a lighthearted voice. "He's so cute." But then he screamed in pain when the small robot bit his finger. "OW!"

Timmy looked at the last remaining robot and shouted, "I wish SpongeCog 13 malfunctioned."

A 'poof' was heard and 13's arms began to vibrate and smoke, much to his confusion. This allowed Jimmy to pull his arms free from the robot's grasp and activate the strength in his suit's boots to kick the giant robot away from him. But Jimmy immediately afterward doubled over and grasped his neck which still ached from being held for so long.

"Jimmy!" Dani cried as she rushed over to him and knelt by his side.

DarkEvil watched the whole thing below. "Some people just never learn." Then he suddenly pushes Max off the edge of Platform. The boy screamed as he fell from the top of the high machine, and Tammy and SpongeBorg gasp.

"Max!" Darry yelled before he quickly flew up and caught Max in midair.

"Scottie?" Max asked with strain in his voice as Darry phased the chains off of his body and placed him on the ground as SpongeBorg hugged him.

"Master!" SpongeCog shouted after he got up. "What should we do with these squishies?"

"Forget them!" DarkEvil answered. "They already know they have lost."

"Big whoop!" Darry scoffed. "So you activated Platform. It won't be enough to stop us."

But DarkEvil began to type on Platform's keyboard. "Well, why don't we see what this thing can do?"

The tip of the machine lit up, and a large ball of energy charged up on the satellite dish and a beam shot at the ground surrounding Platform.

"Look out!" Timmy shouted as he and the others quickly backed away as a river of lava suddenly appeared around Platform acting as a protective moat to block the Nicktoons away from the machine.

"Oh shank." Tak cursed in disappointment. "This is so unfair."

"How interesting." DarkEvil said as he looked at the screens. "This is only what minimal power this thing can do."

As the events went on, Max watched in horror as he quietly backed away from the Nicktoons and ran off without anyone noticing.

"You forgot one thing, LaserPants." Danny said in a confident tone as he took to the air and flew straight at DarkEvil. "It's time we knocked you off your high-seahorse!"

"Oh yeah?" DarkEvil said calmly as he typed on the keyboard. "What if your powers were the one that knocked you off?"

The same thing occurred as the tip of the machine lit up, and a beam of energy shot at Danny and electricity course over his body and he screamed in pain as he fell to the ground.

"Dad!" Darry cried as he rushed over.

"Danny!" Danielle, Timmy, and Tak yelled as they rush over also.

Danny quickly changed into human form and the effects disappeared. "Don't worry." Danny assured as he panted. "…I'm fine."

Darry looked up at DarkEvil and growled furiously. He was about to fly up as well until Dani grabbed his arm to stop him. "No!" she shouted. "Do you want the same thing to happen to you as well?"

Jimmy stared at this from afar and watched with a look of stun. "This can't be." Then he turned around to see SpongeBorg standing by himself with a look of fright. "Max?" he asked, noticing his future son was nowhere in sight.

SpongeBob looked over at Danny in concern and glanced back at DarkEvil with rage in his expressing. The sponge suddenly charged toward Platform and jumped high through the air, leaping over the lava and making it to the island Platform was sitting on. He began to rapidly climb up the ladder, desperately trying to reach his foe for vengeance.

"You invade my town, kidnap me, terrorize a poor little kid, and attack my friends!" SpongeBob spoke angrily as he climbed up the ladder, and soon reached the top to confront DarkEvil. "What do you have to say to that before I kick your butt?"

DarkEvil just calmly looked over at him and responded, "I say…I'm about to do what I've always wanted to do."

He pushed the enter key on Platform and beam of energy shot out and directly hit SpongeBob, knocking him off of Platform on back down below toward the others as he screamed and slid on the ground.

"SB!" Tak cried out, seeing this.

"Creator!" SpongeTron hollered in distress as he rushed over.

However, SpongeBob managed to sit up and hold his head as he groaned from the impact. But then, he looked at his hand and noticed it was suddenly turning transparent. "Wha…" he muttered in surprise to see the rest of his body doing the same thing.

"Creator?" SpongeTron asked in surprise. "What's happening to you?"

"I don't know." SpongeBob replied as his body suddenly began turning digitally holographic as the others stare in surprise.

DarkEvil looked down to them and spoke, "You plummeted down before I could finish, SquarePants. Thanks to Platform, I did what I always wanted to do: erase you from existence."

Suddenly, SpongeBob become computerized pixels and began to fade away into oblivion. "Guys!" he voice echoed as he faded away.

"Creator, NO!" SpongeTron cried as he jumped on top of SpongeBob, only for his creator to vanish at the last second.

SpongeTron sobbed loudly as his friends looked equally sad. "SpongeBob…" Danny whispered before turning back into ghost form and glaring at DarkEvil. He was prepared to fly up and beat him senseless, but then fell to his knees and bowed his head in sorrow.

Jimmy continued to watch from afar as he fell to his knees from the loss of his friend and teammate.

Timmy turned toward DarkEvil with a furious look. "You idiot!" he shouted. "You realize that with SpongeBob gone, you're gonna be erased as well!"

"Didn't you even read the manual?" DarkEvil asked cynically before taping the bottom of the shell overhead. "As long as I'm in the control seat, I'm protected from any effects Platform would have on this world. And speaking of worlds…" he began to type on the keyboard. "I think it's time I made a few little changes to this one."

Tammy gasped as he backed away. "What'll we do?"

Jimmy soon shook his head backed to reality and got on his feet, determined to do something to help their situation. "Get together everyone!"

Timmy, Danny, Tak, Darry, Tammy, Tommy, SpongeTron, and SpongeBorg quickly obeyed and huddled in a circle. Jimmy got in front of everyone and put his hands together. "Let's just hope that my future self really did input the same technology from my suit onto Platform." He said as he generated energy into his palms.

From atop of Platform, after inputting the data, DarkEvil pushed the 'enter' key and a large beam of light charged on the tip of the ray and shot out a large beam of light that seemed to engulf the entire area. The Nicktoon all closed their eyes and huddled even closer as the light approached them. But Jimmy suddenly created a blue shield from the gloves of his suit that went over him and all his friends just as the light engulfed all of them, leaving nothing but a blinding light all around them as the machine began to change Bikini Bottom to something far worse that couldn't possibly be imagined…

_It's the end of the world as we know it. But that's not the end…it gets worse. Please review what you thought and the next chapter will be up soon._


	17. Chapter 16: Down Time

_Here's the next chapter of "Nicktoons: The Final Countdown". Last time, DarkEvil got the code and used Platform to change the world. What will the Nicktoons do to stop this?_

_Enjoy…_

Chapter 16: Down Time

A pair of blue eyes suddenly opened up, and it was Jimmy who had just awoke. He noticed he was laying down on a canopy bed in a bedroom that seemed almost familiar to him. He sat up and realized that he was still in Bikini Bottom, but the last thing he remembered was fighting DarkEvil LaserPants and he activated Platform. So how did he end up here?

"You know…" Jimmy heard a voice say, and he quickly turned his head to see Tak standing against the wall in the corner of the room. "You've gotten pretty heavy."

"Tak?" Jimmy asked in surprise. "How did we get here?"

"Well, we did need a place to crash after you passed out using your Mech-Suit." Tak explained. "We were worried if we didn't do something soon, that suit would've done you in again."

Jimmy looked at the far corner of the bedroom to see his Neutronic Mech-Suit comically placed there as if it were contaminated. Then they hear the voice of Squidward shout from downstairs, "How long is that little brat going to take a nap in my bed?"

Jimmy narrowed his eyes at Tak. "Did we have to come here?"

Tak shrugged and responded, "It was the only place we can be sure DarkEvil wouldn't think to look for us."

Jimmy soon managed to get up from the bed after getting his strength back, and rushed over to the window and gasped in shock at what he saw. The city of Bikini Bottom was in ruin with smoke rising up from in the city, and the sky was a bright red color to add to the eerie effect of how dark the world has become.

"No…" Jimmy whispered in horror.

* * *

><p>Downstairs, Darry, Tammy, Tommy, SpongeTron, and Timmy were sitting on the couch, watching the Bikini Bottom news on TV. Danny was pacing back and forth with Danielle leaning against the wall, watching him until she looked up ahead and smiled. "Jimmy, you're awake!" called out as she rushed over to where Jimmy was coming downstairs with Tak.<p>

She flung herself at Jimmy and hugged him tightly. "I was so worried about you!"

"Uh…sure." Jimmy said as his face turned a bit red. "I appreciate it."

"We're glad to see you're okay, Jimmy." Danny explained to him after he walked over. "As you already know, we brought you here so you can rest up."

"And you choose here to come." Squidward complained with a frown as he walked around. "What do I look like? A hotel?"

Jimmy glanced at Danny and whispered, "But how did you convince Squidward to let us stay?"

"Well…" Danny explained as he glanced back at his future son. "He doesn't really remember the fact that he let us in."

Darry looked over at them from the couch and gave a huge grin.

"But what happened before I woke up here?" Jimmy asked.

"That's the worst part." Tak mentioned.

Jimmy walked over behind the couch and stared at the TV the kids were watching. On the screen, Perch Perkins was giving a news report. "Perch Perkins here, coming to you live for another day in the enslaved doomed town of Bikini Bottom."

"Another?" Timmy questioned in confusion. "It's only been a few hours."

"When DarkEvil changed the world using Platform," Tammy explained as she watched. "It must've altered the memories of everyone in town."

"Coming to you soon, the latest topics," Perch continued. "Will you survive the reign of DarkEvil LaserPants? Learn the consequences of going against our lord and master. And if you see a group of humans and ghosts, contact this number imme-"

At this, Darry shut off the TV with the remote. "Hey!" Squidward shouted with a shell phone in his tentacle. "I was watching that."

"You better be careful with what you do, Squidward." SpongeTron warned. "If SpongeBob finds out that you wanna turn on us, he won't be happy."

"Who the barnacles is SpongeBob?" Squidward asked.

"What are you talking about, Squidward?" Timmy asked, looking confused. "He's your neighbor, a sponge who works with you at the Krusty Krab, the person you hate the most."

"Well, I think I would remember a person like that." Squidward replied, still not looking convinced. "And if I did, I'm glad he's not in my life."

After he walked away, Danielle commented, "And we thought he was just kidding when he told us earlier that he didn't know who SpongeBob is."

"It's worse than I feared." Jimmy said with an anxious look. "Not only has DarkEvil altered the properties of this world to the point where he now controls everything and everyone in it, but ever since he wiped SpongeBob out of existence, no one even knows who he is anymore."

"But we remember who SpongeBob is." Tommy pointed out. "And we still remember that DarkEvil is a monster and changed this world with a powerful machine."

"Don't you remember?" Tammy mentioned in an annoyed tone. "Jimmy used his suit to protect us from the changes happening to this world."

"Of course I remember! I just wanted to make sure."

Then they hear a beeping sound, and see SpongeBorg slowly coming out from behind a shelf. SpongeTron rushed over to him and gently grabbed his hand with friendly smile. "Don't worry." He said to the little robot in a gentle voice. "You're safe with us, remember?"

"I guess he's worried about Max." Timmy pointed out.

"We haven't seen him since DarkEvil changed everything with Platform." Darry mentioned. "We don't know if he's safe from the effects or if he's in trouble somewhere."

Jimmy became even more anxious, but spoke in a calm and confident tone. "We'll have to find him and get to DarkEvil so we can undo Platform's effects. But how?"

He hears beeping and looks over at SpongeBorg, who appears to be explaining something to them in the most confident appearance they have ever seen him in since their meeting.

"SpongeBorg says that he can help us with that." SpongeTron explained. "He says that if we input the kill code, that'll undo all the previous actions that Platform has been used for."

"Kill code?" Tammy questioned.

"It's on a USB drive." SpongeTron explained for SpongeBorg. "Max has it in his pocket. He grabbed it before he came here because he thought he might need it."

"Well, he was right about one thing." Danny muttered.

"But we have to find Max since with his psychic powers, he might be able to get through the defenses that Platform has that'll allow one of us to climb up to Platform and undo its effects. If we do that, we can stop DarkEvil and get…everything…back to…" all of a sudden, SpongeTron's eyes began to shut and he slowly kneeled over.

"SpongeTron?" Darry asked as he rushed over to his side along with Tammy and Tommy. "What's wrong with you?"

"Systems shutting down." SpongeTron quickly explained as a faint whirring sound was heard from his body. "Can't stay…operational."

"But how?" Tammy franticly asked. "You shouldn't be shutting down like this all of a sudden."

"It's because of my creator. If SpongeBob doesn't exist…neither can I."

Darry, Tammy, and Tommy gasp in shock and horror along with the older kids who were equally shocked.

"No," Darry said quietly as he held SpongeTron. "You can't go too! We need you with us!"

"It's okay…" SpongeTron replied with a weak smile to his friends. "Just find Max…beat DarkEvil…use the kill code…save the world…bring back SpongeBob…my creator."

Then he suddenly closed his eyes and fell to the ground flat on his face now motionless and shut down.

"SpongeTron!" Tommy cried out.

SpongeBorg beeped quietly in sadness as well.

"NO!" Tammy yelled as he cried and sobbed on top of the deactivated SpongeTron while Tommy placed his hands on her shoulders to comfort her. SpongeBorg moaned sadly as he stared at the bigger robot.

As the younger kids mourned for the loss of their friend, Jimmy quietly grunted in discouragement and walked away from everyone with Dani noticing. She was about to follow him until Danny grabbed her shoulder.

"Actually…" Danny began saying with a smile. "Why don't you let us handle this?"

* * *

><p>Upstairs in the room with all of Squidward's artwork, Jimmy leaned back against the wall with a heavy sigh.<p>

"You okay?" he turned to see Timmy standing by the doorway, looking at him in concern.

"Don't you understand, Timmy?" Jimmy asked sullenly. "They won, we lost! We lost our battle with DarkEvil, we lost Platform, we lost Bikini Bottom, we lost SpongeBob, and now we lost another one of our friends."

Suddenly, Danny and Tak come into the room from behind Timmy. "So now what, Leader?" Tak asked Jimmy.

"I'm no leader." Jimmy said with his head lowered. "Everything I've done so far has only led to failure. We have no chance of ever fixing this."

"You shouldn't talk like that, Jimmy." Timmy said, looking disappointment. "It may have been a long time since we've been together, but the Jimmy I know would never talk like that."

"Timmy's right." Danny added. "Our first time back together as a team in years and you're having a meltdown?"

"Yeah," Tak said with a shrug and smile. "Besides, it's not the first time we've failed. Remember that time we couldn't stop Plankton from stealing a truck-load of krabby patties because SB had just mopped the floor in the Krusty Krab and we kept slipping?"

Timmy added, "Or the time we fought Professor Calamitous's robot, but it trapped us in the bank vault and left with the money?"

Danny scratched his chin and reminisced like the others, "I also recall the time we were captured by Skulker and we were trapped on his island so he could hunt us down."

"Umm…" Jimmy stared at them oddly. "Not that these nostalgic memories aren't pleasant, but they're not exactly helping."

"You're missing the point." Danny said, looking a bit annoyed but spoke calmly, "We're saying that even though we've failed a couple times, we've still managed to come out in the end."

"Yeah," Timmy said with a nod. "Calamitous and his robot were still stopped."

"And we still managed to catch Plankton." Tak added with a smile.

"And we managed to escape from Skulker." Danny finished brightly

Jimmy sighed again and began to speak, "I appreciate everything you're trying to do. But if you can recall, the reason we separated was to prevent things like this from happening to our worlds and everyone around us; and now that we're back together, look what happens."

Danny, Timmy, and Tak stare at each other and sadly reminisce about the decision they made years ago that Jimmy just reminded them of. Just then, Danny grabbed Jimmy's shoulders and held him against the wall.

"Even if the Nicktoons no longer exist, we're here now, aren't we?" Danny said in a serious tone. "Right now, everyone we know needs our help; and if we're ever gonna get SpongeBob back and stop DarkEvil, we need you with us. Not just because you're our leader, but also our friend; and we can't be on a team together without you."

Jimmy stared at him, a bit dazed by what he said, but the young ghost adult continued, "Well, Jimmy? You wanna be a Nicktoon again? For one last time?"

* * *

><p>Back in the living room, Darry, Tammy, and Tommy were still sitting by their deactivated robot friend, grieving over their loss. Soon, Danny, Timmy, and Tak come down the stairs, and afterwhich, Darry rushed over.<p>

"Dad!" Darry called as he ran over to Danny. "What are we gonna do? We have to bring SpongeBob back so we can save SpongeTron."

"We will, Darry." Danny said in an assuring tone. "We're gonna go kick DarkEvil's square butt and reset everything back to the way it was."

"But what about Jimmy?" Dani asked. "Is he coming with us?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Tak said with a smile as he stepped to the side, showing Jimmy step down the stairs, wearing his Neutronic-Mech Suit again, making everyone turn their attention to him.

"Alright Nicktoons," Jimmy spoke in a confident tone. "We have to fight our way to the Chum Bucket and once again make our way down to where DarkEvil is holding Platform. Also, along the way, we're gonna have to find Max. If what SpongeBorg said is true, he's gonna hold an important role in our strategy, and if we can get him to cooperate with us, then we might just have a chance."

"We can do it, Jimmy!" Tammy blurted out ecstatically. "With you leading us, we'll definitely win!"

Jimmy smiled at this while Timmy shouted, "Well, Nicktoons…let's unite to find Max, beat DarkEvil and his robots, and use Platform to turn Bikini Bottom back to normal!"

"Uh…thanks Timmy." Jimmy said with a weak chuckle. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

The others all cheer and rush out the door, ready to begin their mission. As Jimmy follows, Dani walks next to him and whispers, "Glad to see you back to your old self."

"Well, it's no more 'doubting myself again' for me." Jimmy replied with a positive smile as Dani smiled at him.

As the Nicktoons walk out the front door, Darry was the last one to leave. He turns his head back to take one last glance at the deactivated SpongeTron lying on the floor, and frowned sadly before walking out and shutting the door behind him.

_Curse you, Time Paradox! You've taken another life into your realm of nothingness. But at least they know how to undo Platform thanks to SpongeBorg. How hard will this be? Please review and the next chapter will be up soon._


	18. Chapter 17: Desperate Resolutions

_Hope everyone had a good holiday. I sure did. And now I give the gift of another chapter of Nicktoons: The Final Countdown. But I'll warn you; this chapter is a little T-rated here- mostly due to blood…and lots of it. Read at your own risk._

_Enjoy…_

Chapter 17: Desperate Resolutions

At the Chum Bucket where Platform stood, up in the operator's chair, one of the screens played various images of the now ruined Bikini Bottom which were transformed by the machine, and others just displayed data. DarkEvil was relaxed back in the chair as he stared at the screens without a sound or emotion.

"Finally…everything is mine." DarkEvil finally spoke coldly. "I defeated my enemy and conquered all with this wonderful machine that insufferable genius invented. Now that I'm through with Bikini Bottom, maybe I should move onto Retroville…or even Amity Park…"

As DarkEvil continued to ponder to himself, down below, the SpongeCog bots were idly standing around, somewhat looking bored with nothing to do at the moment.

"Do you think that the master has gone mad with the power he holds from that device?" SpongeCog 8 suddenly asked.

SpongeCog grunted and responded, "Don't even think that, fool. Too much power is never a bad thing. Besides, he knows just as well as us that those squishies are still out there. They haven't been affected by Platform's power thanks to Neutron's suit."

SpongeCog 10 growled rapidly and shook his head violently in anticipation. SpongeCog 13 pounded his fists together. "Find Target." He spoke dimly.

"Hmph," SpongeCog stood up and changed into Darry Phantom's appearance as he spoke in his voice to match, "No, we're done with that, you idiot. Our job now is to find those squishies; and when we do…" he reached over and grabbed one of 8's swords, holding it up to his neck and speaking in a gagged voice, "Kill them."

SpongeCogs 8, 10, and 13 nodded in understanding. SpongeCog changed into his "SpongeTron" disguise as he finished, opening his red eyes, "…along with the Target."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, outside in Bikini Bottom, Jimmy, Timmy, Darry, Tammy, Tommy, Dani, SpongeBorg, Danny, and Tak were walking on the streets, making their way to the Chum Bucket.<p>

"Do we have ANY ideas where Max could be?" Danny asked the others.

"SpongeBorg," Tammy asked, turning to the robot and giving him a friendly smile. "Do you think you can locate Max for us?"

SpongeBorg suddenly became shy again and made a few beeping noises, which baffled the others, not knowing if it was a "yes or no" answer or something completely different.

"Do you understand, Jimmy?" Dani asked.

"Of course not." Jimmy replied indignantly. "As much as I talk with Goddard, I don't speak robot."

Tak slumped over in frustration. "My magic doesn't work on anything electronic." He pointed out. "So I couldn't make him speak English even if I tried."

"Where's SpongeTron when you need him?" Tommy cried as he covered his eyes.

Just when all hope seemed lost, Poof suddenly appeared out of Timmy's magical weaponry and floated over to SpongeBorg. "SpongeBorg find Max!" Poof said excitedly to the robot.

SpongeBorg beeped again to which Poof laughed and clapped his hands. "Well, Poof?" Timmy asked anxiously. "Can you understand him at all?"

Poof smiled and nodded, "Uh huh."

Everyone smiles. "Awesome!" Timmy shouted contentedly. "Can he find Max at all?"

Poof opened his mouth wide and inhaled deeply, but all that came out was a simple, "No." as his smiled vanished.

At this, everyone slumped in disappointment. "Well, it was worth a shot." Jimmy said in defeat.

Suddenly, a bright shine appeared in the distance which only caught Tak's eye, to which he gasped and quickly gasped and moved in front of Jimmy. "Look out!" he shouted as he shoved Jimmy away and took out his staff which was bitten by SpongeCog 10 after he pounced from the air.

SpongeBorg shrieked in fear and ran away while Tommy grunted in annoyance and ran after him.

Tak did his best to hold the beastly robot back, but before the others could give him a hand, SpongeCog 13 suddenly jumped down toward them, and the Nicktoons quickly moved out of the way as 13 pounded his fist on the ground.

Tammy quickly swung her jump rope and wrapped it around SpongeCog 10, pulling him away from Tak, and flipping him on the ground. But SpongeCog 10 got up and turned to her with a growl. Tammy gasped in fright until Timmy used his giant hammer to whack the robot away. Jimmy then removed his left glove and used his watch to magnetize SpongeCog 10 to a fire hydrant, leaving him stuck.

SpongeCog 13 grunted as he swung his large fist at the kids. Darry jumped out of the way and turned his head to notice a yellow square figure fly away with rocket boots. Darry's eyes widen as he recognizes the figure.

"SpongeTron…no, it can't be," Darry said in disbelief as he shook his head and glared. "SpongeCog…" he sneered before flying off after the robot.

"Darry, wait!" Danny called out. But before he could go after him, SpongeCog 13 grabbed his legs and swung him to the ground.

Dani flew forward to punch, but SpongeCog 13 simply swat her away and she fell on the ground. Danny sat up and glared angrily. "You bugged me for the last time." He furiously said as he vanished into black mist.

SpongeCog 13 looked at his empty hands in confusion, not noticing Danny reappear high above him, at least twenty feet.

Then Danny charged straight back down to the ground with both his fist glowing bright with green energy and power than it usually did. As soon as Danny hit the ground, his fists broke a crack in the pavement, and he suddenly sent ectoplasmic waves along the ground, knocking down whatever was in their path. This included SpongeCog 13, Timmy, Jimmy, Tommy, Tak, Tammy, and SpongeBorg. Dani was able to hover in the air to avoid it.

Danny stood up with a self-satisfied expression. "I just learned that move last week." But upon seeing his friends trying to stand up after being knocked in different directions, he gained a look of embarrassment. "And I'm still trying to learn not to do that."

Before SpongeCog 13 could regain balance, Danny few over to him and jumped on top of him. "Okay, you bucket of brainless bolts…where's Max and the rest of your robotic group?"

"Uhhh…" SpongeCog 13 dimly stammered before answering, "SpongeCog order to destroy Nicktoons…and wait at base to eliminate Target and the Nicktoons who follow him."

After hearing the robots fragmented explanation, Danny quickly realized what was going and who it was that was in danger at this very moment. "No…" he said with his eyes widening.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Darry was walking down the dark eerie hallways below the Chum Bucket by himself after leaving the group to follow SpongeCog. But he had soon lost sight of SpongeCog and couldn't see anyone else around.<p>

"Maybe this wasn't such a great idea." Darry thought out loud to himself. "I'd better call Dad and Jimmy to let them know-"

Before he could take out his Recaller, he heard crying down the hall up ahead. He quickly rushed down the hallway and spotted Max sitting against the wall, softly crying into his knees.

"Max!" Darry shouted, running up to the boy.

Max immediately stopped crying and looked up at Darry. "You're here too? But how?"

"Of course." Darry responded, "I'm here to help you. Jimmy protected us from Platform's effects with his Neutronic Mech-Suit."

Max glanced behind Darry to see no one there. "You're here alone?"

"Yeah," Darry sheepishly smiled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Not my best idea. But how did you survive Platform's effects."

"I created a protective force field with my psychic powers." Max glared and glanced away. "I figured since you already know, there's no use in hiding it anymore."

"There's nothing wrong with it." Darry said with a smile. "I think they're amazing. Why would you wanna hide it?"

"That's none of your business!" Max shouted as he stood up.

Darry rolled his eyes and said, "Fine, fine, we need your help to stop Platform. We have a way to get pass Platform's defenses and fix everything, but we need your help. Once Jimmy and the others get here, we'll be able to beat DarkEvil."

Max's eyebrow rose. "Really? Well, whatever this plan is, it better work."

"So you're gonna help?" Darry asked with a smile.

"Yeah, sure, I'll show you where Platform is, and there we can wait for Jimmy to arrive." Max turned around and started walking forward. "Let's go, Darry."

"Thanks Max." Darry said as he began to follow. "I'm glad I can count on-" but then he stopped in his tracks as his eyes widen, realizing something off.

Max turned around and noticed Darry stopped following him. "What are you waiting for? Platform is this way!"

"…I'm sorry, Max." Darry suddenly flung himself forward and grabbed a hold of Max's collar, holding him against the wall. "If that's who you really are! You can't fool me this time, SpongeCog!"

Max's pupils suddenly turn red as he smirked. "I didn't need to fool you."

He snapped his fingers, and SpongeCog 8 suddenly sprung out from the corner of the hallway and swung his swords at Darry. The ghost boy quickly backed away, dropping Max and dodging the robot's swings.

Max changed back into SpongeCog and shouted, "Get him! Eliminate him for good!"

SpongeCog 8 followed his leader's orders and rapidly swung his swords at Darry to eliminate him. But Darry quickly dodged every swing.

"I hate fighting this thing." Darry muttered in annoyance before turning intangible from another swing of 8's sword, and quickly fired a blue ecto-beam at the robot. SpongeCog 8 deflected it with one of his swords.

Suddenly, SpongeCog jumped onto Darry and pounded him to the ground. "Not so easy without your little team to follow you around, huh?" the robot taunted. "It was easy to fool you then too."

Darry quickly sat up and fired another ecto-beam at SpongeCog, knocking him away. "Not so easy without your little team to hide behind, huh?" Darry taunted in a cynical manner.

When he wasn't looking, SpongeCog 8 swung another sword at him, but Darry reacted quickly and phased through the ground to avoid it. When he came back up, SpongeCog 8 launched all of his swords at Darry, who gasped unable to think of another way to defend himself.

But suddenly, a beam of lightning fired at SpongeCog 8, shocking him and causing him to fall back. Darry sat in awe until he turned around and saw Max, holding out a little ray gun.

"Max?" Darry asked. "How did you…"

"Don't just sit there, Scottie!" Max yelled as he pocketed his weapon. "Get us out of here!"

"The Target!" SpongeCog yelled in exhilaration. "Eliminate him first!"

SpongeCog 8 recovered and spun his swords around as he moved toward Max as the younger boy froze in terror.

"No!" Darry yelled as he rushed forward, but an extended robotic arm grabbed his leg and caused him to trip on the floor.

"Don't interrupt us." SpongeCog said grimly.

Max flinched as SpongeCog 8 swung his swords at him. But suddenly, a force field surrounded Max and stopped SpongeCog 8's swords from hitting him. The robot was surprised by this and kept attacking it with his swords, but could not break through.

When Max looked up, his shield suddenly disappeared, leaving him vulnerable. SpongeCog 8 noticed this and prepared to strike.

"MAX!" Darry yelled as flipped through the air, throwing SpongeCog against the wall.

Darry hastily flew to Max and grabbed a hold of him just as SpongeCog 8 swung his sword down at him. Darry winced, feeling a sharp pain before turning intangible and phasing through the wall with Max in his arms.

SpongeCog stood up and stormed over to SpongeCog 8. "You let them get away!" he yelled in frustration.

"Yes," SpongeCog 8 said in monotone as he held up one of his swords to see green ectoplasm dripping from the tip. "…but they won't get very far."

* * *

><p>In a darkened hallway Max and Darry were walking through after escaping the robots. "Platform's up ahead." Max said with a firm expression. "I recognize the interior of this place from when I was here last."<p>

But suddenly, Darry grunts in pain and grasps the left side of his abdomen as he bends over.

"Scottie, what are you doing?" Max asked in an annoyed tone.

Darry slowly removes his hand and sees a tear in his suit with green ectoplasmic blood coming out of the cut underneath from where SpongeCog 8's sword had hit him.

Max's expression turned to shock and horror. "Oh no." he whispered. "Scottie…"

Despite the way he was feeling, Darry put on a weak smile for Max. "Don't worry, Max." he stood up as best as he could and began to slowly limp forward. "It's just a cut. Let's go."

However, he did not get very far. Darry grunted again and knelt to the floor, turning into human form.

"Scottie!" Max cried out, and shook his head franticly. "No! This can't happen…We need to find Platform!"

Darry began to gasp heavily as he spoke, "We will…My dad and everyone else will be here soon." His forehead began to sweat as he continued grasping onto his injury.

Max glanced at the red blood staining through Darry's shirt and dripping on his fingers. "They won't make it in time!" he shouted. "You're losing a lot of blood!"

"I'll be fine, Max." Darry assured as he spoke in his normal tone and slowly stands up. "I'll take you…" he places his blood-covered hand on the wall to hold himself up. "We'll stop DarkEvil together with…" but he suddenly coughs and holds his wound as he leans against the wall.

"Scottie…" he quietly said with a look of concern. But then he groans angrily and shouts, "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO HELP ME? None of this would've happened if you hadn't come along!"

"You'd be dead right now if not for me!" Darry shouted back before grunting in pain while his forehead still sweats. "…I'd never let that happen. You may be the biggest brat I'd ever met, but you're still one of my best friends.

Max seemed stunned by his words, but still made an attempt to look firm. "That doesn't matter. I broke my promise." His eyes begin to water as his starts crying. "Dad's gonna hate me now. I ruined everything…everyone hates me."

"That's not true, Max. I don't hate you…none of us do- not even your dad." As his labored breathing became heavier, he puts on a weak smile as he continues talking in a gentle voice, "I can't tell you how many times I've messed up…But my dad…he…he never stops loving me. Your dad will understand…I know."

Darry's vision suddenly becomes blurry and he slides forward against the wall, smearing blood on the surface, as he falls to the floor.

"Scottie!" Max cried out in alarm, "Get up, Scottie!" he grabs a hold of Darry's arm and pulls on it in an attempt to get him up, but his strength couldn't even get him to budge. "We have to go! Get up!"

Darry lied on his front with his eyes half-open as he succumbed to his injury. "Don't worry about me, Max." he spoke weakly, his eyes slowly closing, "I still believe in you."

Once Darry slipped out of consciousness, Max's eyes widen in horror and water with tears as he falls to his knees.

"Scottie?" he despairingly asked as he shook Darry to wake him up, but the teen was out cold.

When Max realizes this, he laid his head on Darry's back and began to sob into his shirt. His muffled voice came out, "Don't leave me alone."

_Despite how they act, Max and Darry are really good friends, could you tell? But will they lose another member of the team…permanently? Please review what you thought and the next K+-rated chapter will be posted soon._


	19. Chapter 18: My Failsafe

_Epic battle ensues here…_

Chapter 18: My Failsafe

After defeating SpongeCogs 10 and 13, the Nicktoons hurried to the Chum Bucket to find Darry and Max. They walked down the halls with Jimmy leading them. "It's just down this way." Jimmy announced. "Straight ahead I think."

"We're lucky you remember the way, Jimmy." Tammy said with a smile.

As they walked past a left corridor, Tak stopped and said, "Hey, do you guys hear something?"

They all stopped and quietly listened to what Tak pointed out. They soon hear it as well and it almost sounded like a weeping child.

"It sorta sounds like crying." Dani pointed out.

SpongeBorg franticly beeped and went down the hallway where it was coming from. "Max," Jimmy realized and followed the robot.

They rushed down the hall and soon found Max with his face buried into something on the ground. But Max lifted his head when he noticed the Nicktoons approaching.

"Max!" Jimmy shouted as he happily walked over. "Thank goodness we found you, we-" but his smile vanished when he noticed that Max was crying over Darry, who was lying unconsciously on the ground in small puddle of blood running from underneath him.

"AAAH!" Tammy screamed at the sight of it.

Everyone was in just as much shock while Danny quickly went over and bent down, picking up Darry's limp body to see his blood-stain shirt on the left side of his abdomen where his wound was.

"Darry…" Tommy whispered in horror. "No…"

As Danny sat on the ground and held Darry in his arms, he placed his palm on Darry's forehead. "It's okay." He said with a small smile of relief. "The color hasn't completely drained from his face. He's still warm too."

Tak walks over and bends down in front of them. "Then it's not too late. Healing injuries has always been tricky, but I think I can do something."

Jimmy, Timmy, Tommy, and Dani all sigh and smile in relief. But Timmy noticed Tammy standing isolated from everyone with her back turned as she cried. "Tammy," Timmy asked as he walked over and knelt down to her. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want this to happen anymore." Tammy answered as she sobbed. "I can't lose my two best friends. I already lost SpongeTron, and now I'm losing Darry."

As Tammy continued to sob, Timmy placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her. "It's okay, Tammy." He gently said. "You heard Danny and Tak. Darry's gonna be okay. And we WILL get SpongeTron back, so no need to cry, alright?"

Tammy wipes her tears away and attempts to smile before hugging Timmy. "Thank you, Daddy."

As Tak lifted up Darry's shirt to examine his wound, Max slowly backed away and attempted to slip off from everyone unnoticed again. But when he turned around and tried to run, a white gloved-hand grabbed his arm. He looked up and saw Jimmy grasped onto him.

"Running away from your problems won't solve anything, Max." Jimmy sternly told him. "Trust me, I know."

Max turned his head away in embarrassment and yanked his arm out of Jimmy's grip. "What do you know?" he muttered angrily

Jimmy ignored his rude comment and continued to talk to you. "Max, we need you. Platform is very powerful at DarkEvil's hands, and your powers are the only thing that can help us."

SpongeBorg went over to Max's side and beeped something which Max understood. "I can't." Max said in sorrow, "I can't do anything with my powers. I couldn't even help Scottie, and it'll probably be the same with you guys."

"You shouldn't talk like that, Max." Dani said as she bent down to him with a warm smile. "We have faith in you, and you just need to believe in yourself too. We know you can do it. If you're just like your dad, you can do anything."

Max took in her words carefully and soon recalled Darry's last words to him also. SpongeBorg then beeped something to him, to which, Max made a small smile. "Yes, SpongeBorg." He responded, "I'll do that." Then he turned to Jimmy and Dani, and smiled in determination, "And I will show you the way to Platform!"

Dani smiles and Jimmy gets the same expression as Max before turning to the others, "Alright, Danny and Tak, you stay with Darry. The rest of you, follow me."

* * *

><p>Jimmy, Max, Timmy, Dani, SpongeBorg, Tammy, and Tommy ran down the hall. When they reached the large doors blocking the room holding Platform, instead of just using the Neutronic Mech-Suit to just open the doors like last time; Jimmy already had enough and decided to just blast a ball of energy at the door and knocked them off the hinges and down to the ground.<p>

"LASERPANTS!" Jimmy shouted in a furious tone.

Up on top of Platform, DarkEvil was unfazed by this as he sat in the operator's seat in front of the screens and controls. "Heroes don't knock." DarkEvil said in a cold cynical tone. "Do they?"

"I hope you enjoyed your hours of playing on the computer, LaserPants," Jimmy said in unwavering tone, "Because we're through playing kids games!"

"I'm afraid the games are just starting, kids." DarkEvil responded in the same cold tone. "You see, I'm unstoppable here and I can control everything and everyone."

"You're drunk with power!" Timmy pointed out to him. "That's what you are up there!"

"Then I prefer hard drinking!" DarkEvil madly shouted back.

"Enough of this, LaserPants!" Jimmy shouted. "You've hurt our friends for the last time!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." DarkEvil sarcastically said as he typed on the keyboard. "Would like to join SpongeBob in nonexistence? Or I can just alter yourselves to make you my servants. Would you prefer to be changed into robots that don't question my demands?" He intimidated them by tapping his finger on the 'enter' key.

"Go ahead," Max said, causing the others to stare at him in surprise. "Do it! I don't care anymore."

"Max, what are you-" Tammy was about to ask until Jimmy stopped her as he watched Max reaching into his back-pocket.

"Everything that happened was because of me." Max continued on in a saddened voice. "I put all the worlds in danger, made everyone fight my battles for me, broke my promise to my dad, gave you the code to unlock Platform, and endangered the life of one of my friends." He sighed deeply. "Well, I'm done with it! If you wanna destroy me, do it! But leave Jimmy and everyone else out of this!"

"Glad you see it my way." DarkEvil said with his finger still over the button. "Any last words before I change your life?"

Max nodded. "I really meant all that. I'm done with it all. Everyone was right. I need to stop running away and believe in myself!" he suddenly pulled out his ray gun and fired a blast of electricity at DarkEvil.

Right before it hit DarkEvil, another blast of light suddenly hit it and explode right in front of DarkEvil, leaving him unharmed. The Nicktoons were shocked by this, and see the second blast came from SpongeCog, who was standing in front of Platform with SpongeCog 8.

"I wanted to eliminate all of you anyway." DarkEvil said before pushing the button to fire a long ray at the Nicktoons, who just stood there motionless.

* * *

><p>Out in the hallway, the crystal on Tak's staff glowed as he held it onto Darry's stomach as the ghost boy laid unconsciously in Danny's arms. Soon, Darry's wound suddenly disappeared and Tak pulled away his staff.<p>

"I managed to stop the bleeding." Tak told Danny. "But he should still see a doctor after this."

"Thanks Tak." Danny said with a grateful smile. "I don't know what we would've done without you."

Suddenly, they heard Darry quietly moan and slowly open his eyes to see Danny's face looking down at him. "…Dad?" he said quietly.

"Darry," Danny said in relief as he smiled as he pulled Darry closer in embrace. "I was afraid I'd lost you."

Darry smiled, but then glanced around to see no one but him, Danny, and Tak around in the dark hallway. "Where…where's Max?" Darry asked, now looking worried.

"It's okay." Danny assured. "Max is with Jimmy and the others. They went to stop DarkEvil."

Darry was about to stand up until Tak pushed him back down in Danny's arms. "You shouldn't try to move around." Tak told him. "You're still pretty weak, so you have to relax for a few minutes."

"But we can't just sit here." Darry complained as he sat up again. "Max needs me and we have to help stop DarkEvil."

"We know, Darry." Danny agreed. "But we can't lose you again. You're not going out there…without us."

Darry seemed a little stun, but ultimately smiled. Tak did the same thing as he watched.

"How good are you with Ghost Rays?" Danny asked his future son.

* * *

><p>Jimmy, Timmy, Dani, Tammy, Tommy, and SpongeBorg were all huddled together after DarkEvil fired a ray at them from Platform. But Jimmy suddenly opened his eyes to realize they were okay- and inside a blue orb of energy. He looked down to notice Max was the one who generated it with his psychic powers to protect them.<p>

"Max!" Jimmy cried out as the younger boy deactivated his shield and fell to his knees in exhaustion. He knelt down and grabbed a hold of him. "You saved us."

Max scowled at him and asked, "Did you want me to let you guys get killed?"

Tommy glared at him as well. "Do you want us to not thank you?"

From atop of Platform, DarkEvil snarks, "So, Genius Boy Jr. wants to play rough, does he? Well, I'm ready."

He snapped his fingers, to which, SpongeCog and SpongeCog 8 jumped out and attacked the Nicktoons. "Look out!" Jimmy warned as he and the others split up to avoid the attack.

SpongeCog jumped in front of Tommy. "Where's your friendly robot buddy, squishy?" he asked mockingly, "Or your annoying half-ghost friend?"

At this, Tommy growled furiously for his fallen friends and swung his laser rifle at him which SpongeCog simply dodged. The robot then slid behind Tommy and tried to strike him from behind with his claws. But Tammy quickly wrapped her jump rope around his arm, and Dani flew downward and gave him a hard punch away from the twins.

Max was about to fire his spark gun at SpongeCog 8, but the robot rapidly swung his sword at the boy, knocking the weapon out his hand as he yelped in fright. Timmy tried to defend him with his giant hammer, but it was difficult with 8 thrashing two of his swords at him. Jimmy quickly rushed by and grabbed Max out of harm's way, letting Timmy jump away from SpongeCog 8's swing of his sword

"Jimmy…" Max said in a low tone as he stood in front of Jimmy while the genius crouched down to his height. "I can't keep putting everyone in danger for my sake."

"Don't feel that way, Max." Jimmy assured him. "We just need-"

"No! You protected me all this time, and now I want to protect you." Max said, catching Jimmy be surprise.

"I'll give you the kill code and I'll make sure you get to Platform in order to stop this mess."

Jimmy smirked in satisfaction. "That's what I like to hear."

But then, SpongeCog 8 approached Jimmy from behind with only Max noticing. "Neutron!" he cried out in warning.

When Jimmy turned around, SpongeCog 8 swung his sword at the genius and it turned into a bouquet of flowers. "What?" the robot questioned as his eyes widen.

Jimmy and Max turned their heads to see Danny, Darry and Tak who had his staff pointed out. "Four hands against two ain't fair." Tak quipped.

"Guys!" Timmy shouted in joy.

"Darry!" Tammy and Tommy cried out in joy to see their friend was okay.

SpongeCog chuckled cruelly at seeing this. "You think more of you meatbags would make a difference?"

"I think it would." Darry responded before grunting in pain and holding his side from where his injury used to be. Danny held him up until Darry felt well enough to stand on his own.

Jimmy glanced at Platform, and then at Max. "Max, I need you to cover me while I head to Platform."

"Me?" Max asked in surprise. "Cover you?"

"Yes," Jimmy responded. "I'll need all the power I have in my suit when I reach the top. But with your powers, I know for certain you can get me there safely."

Max looked uncertain for a bit. "You…you really think I can do it?"

Jimmy knelt down and placed a gentle hand on Max's shoulder. "I wouldn't want anyone else covering my back on this mission other than you. Son."

Max stared wide-eyed in astonishment while Jimmy stood up and shouted, "Danny! You and the others take care of the robots! Max is with me!" his friends nodded in agreement while Jimmy shouted enthusiastically, "Nicktoons…UNITE!" for the first time since they were brought back together.

SpongeCog 8 stuck his swords out and prepared to attack the Nicktoons. Danny stood his ground and shouted, "Darry, hit me with one of your ghost rays!"

Timmy heard this and shouted, "Are you nuts? He'll knock you off your feet!"

"He couldn't even if he tried."

"Trust my dad, Timmy." Darry assured as he charged up energy in his hand. "I do."

As SpongeCog 8 neared Danny, Danielle shouted, "Hurry, Darry!"

Darry fired an ecto-beam from both his hands that flew straight at Danny. But the older half-ghost didn't even flinch and just stuck out his arm and absorbed the blow into his hand, which then began to glow brightly. He brought both arms together and his other hand began to glow green. He hastily turned toward SpongeCog 8 and threw the blast at the robot, hitting him hard and knocking him down.

Danny approached the fallen SpongeCog 8, who writhed and sparked from the blast at Danny's feet. "Hit me once and I'll throw it back twice as hard." He said, explaining his previous attack, "Only this time, I'll throw it at you…twice as hard."

Jimmy and Max ran toward Platform, and to pick up the pace, Jimmy picked up Max and used his rocket boots to fly them toward the machine. DarkEvil spotted them and typed on the keyboard, firing a ray at them from Platform. Max closed his eyes and generated a shield which absorbed the blast from the machine. The two reached the ladder to Platform and Jimmy quickly grabs it with one hand, swinging Max by his arm in his other hand until the younger boy grabs a hold of the ladder.  
>They wasted no time in climbing up, and were noticed by SpongeCog, who prepared to fire a laser at them until Timmy smashed him away with his giant hammer just as he fired. The blast missed its targets, but blew apart half the ladder, dividing Jimmy and Max from each other. Jimmy stopped to see what happened, but Max just shouted to him, "Keep going!"<p>

Jimmy obeyed and kept climbing. Once he reached the top of the giant machine, he tried to pull himself on the ledge. But he suddenly felt his fingers crushed underneath a black boot.

He looked up to see DarkEvil standing over him, looking more threatening than Jimmy ever saw him.

"Sorry." DarkEvil coldly commented to Jimmy. "Only room for one."

He attempted to kick Jimmy off the edge, but Jimmy quickly grabbed a hold of DarkEvil's ankle. "Go back to trying to live a normal life." DarkEvil suggested. "You only have less than a day to try." He proceeded to shake his leg and kick Jimmy off the machine.

Thinking he had finally gotten rid of the nuisance, DarkEvil turned back to the computers. Before he could do anything a voice rang out. "What normal life?"

He turned and saw Jimmy swing down from the top of the dome and land next to seat beside DarkEvil. "As long as it took me to understand, I was never normal to begin with." Jimmy explained. "I'm a scientist, a genius, and a Nicktoon. I'm constantly inventing new things to aid in everyday life only for me to go on some dangerous adventure and deal with the consequences of said invention that in a five percent chance it has begun malfunction…That is my normal life."

DarkEvil responded by pulling out his beamsword and attempting to strike Jimmy down. The genius quickly reacted by grabbing the blade with his right hand. His glove began to singe as he gripped the blade. Jimmy, not wanting his glove to be burned through all the way to his skin, grunted as he used all the strength his mech-suit was giving him to lift DarkEvil off his feet while the sponge still gripped on the heel of the sword (though it wasn't hard, considering how much the villain really weighed).

"What?" DarkEvil questioned in shock before he was swung over to the ledge and Jimmy let go of the beamsword. DarkEvil began to scream as he plummets all the way to the bottom of Platform.

Jimmy watched as the sponge eventually hit the bottom until he heard Max's voice in his head, '_Jimmy!_' He looked over the other side to see Max still hanging on to the ladder below. Max reached into his pocket and pulled out a USB drive which he tossed up to Jimmy. He realized it was the one with the very kill code he needed. He looked down to Max with a grateful smile, which Max returned with a smirk, '_You better finish this._' Max's thoughts echoed before he slid down the ladder to the bottom.

Jimmy sat in the seat in front of the computer and inserts the USB into the drive. He begins typing on the keyboard until a message appears on the front screen "accept code?"

"Previous commands listed over the last 24 hours: Disengage!" Jimmy said out loud before slamming the 'enter' key with his finger.

Platform began to power up again, and everyone stopped to see a large beam of light forming in the satellite on the tip of the machine. A bright ray of light suddenly fired into the air and began to engulf the entire room just like it did last time. Outside where the light began to fade, Bikini Bottom was suddenly restored to his former glory; the ocean was bright and blue and the city was back to its well-kept original state.

Inside the Chum Bucket, the light disappeared and the heroes lowered their hands from their eyes when they noticed it was over. There was nothing around them to let know whether the machine had succeeded or not. But suddenly a pixilated light appeared next to them and began to take shape. It had formed into none other than SpongeBob SquarePants, whose existence was brought back by the machine.

"SPONGEBOB!" they all cried as Timmy, Danny, and Tak ran over to their restored teammate. SpongeBob smiled gleefully and wasted no time in hugging them for joy. Jimmy watched the event from the top of Platform as he smiled in content.

But at the bottom, DarkEvil was waking up on the ground after losing consciousness (as well as his mask) from his high drop off the machine. He noticed SpongeBob's return and stood up in shock. "No!" he yelled out. "It can't be! Everything I worked for ruined by you little brats!" he takes out his beamsword and activates it. "Just wait till I get up there!"

Jimmy glared down at him and faced the monitors on Platform before he began typing rapidly on the keyboard. "I don't think so, LaserPants." He responded with a smirk. "In fact, I think it's time you went where you belonged." He pushed the 'enter' key and a ray shot out of the machine, right at DarkEvil LaserPants. "…out of the timeline…and out of existence."

DarkEvil stood still for a moment until he noticed his right hand becoming pixilated and beginning to fade away. "No." he then noticed his lower body doing the same as it traveled upward. "NOOOOO!"

The rest of the Nicktoons stare in awe and shock as DarkEvil's body disappeared and faded away into nothingness. They weren't the only ones witnessing this however. From behind the group, SpongeCog looked in despair and horror to see his creator leave existence.

"Master!" SpongeCog cried out until his body suddenly began to power down. He glared up at Jimmy and began to use the last of his energy to draw his laser rifle and aim up at Jimmy.

"Hey!" Timmy noticed as he ran over.

But SpongeCog had already fired a laser right before falling back on the ground in deactivation. The blast flew through the air and straight toward the operator's seat. Jimmy only noticed too little too late and the blast struck him, knocking him right from the top of the machine.

"NO!" Dani cried as she watched him fall.

Max watched in horror as Jimmy hit the ground and lied there unconscious. He rushed over and stood a few feet away, expecting Jimmy to instantly wake up as soon as he got close enough. "Jimmy?" he squeaked nervously.

He panted nervously until the others approached him. "Jimmy!" Tammy cried out until she noticed how disturbed Max was. "…Max."

SpongeBorg placed a gentle claw on him, only to be swatted away by Max, who suddenly cried out loud and ran away from the group. "AAAH!" he stopped near the middle of the room and doubled-over. "It can't be this way- no, it's not! Why can't anything ever turn out right? WHY?"

He held his head in agony, and the discarded objects around him suddenly began to lift on their own accord. The Nicktoons saw this, and Timmy tried approach him, "Max, stop!" but before he could go any further, a weapon suddenly flung forward, nearly hitting him.

Other random objects in the room suddenly began to fling in various directions, smashing against the walls. As Max continued to cry, the ground beneath him began to crack and crumble until a type of electric force-field surrounded him, cutting him off from everything as he sat there, holding his head in despair.

"Max?" Tommy asked as he watched everything in shock.

"Can you hear us?" Darry called out to him, but Max did not respond or even acknowledge him.

Suddenly, they hear groaning and turn to see Jimmy coming back to consciousness in the arms of Dani.

"Jimmy!" Tammy cried in joy as she hugged him tightly. "You're alive!"

"Wha…" Jimmy moaned as he held his head.

"How do you feel?" Danny asked.

"Just a little banged up, I think." Jimmy answered weakly until his eyes widen when he notices Max.

By now, Max suddenly began to levitate in his own force-field, crouching in the same position, as his powers began to break apart the ceiling and floor tiles. SpongeBorg lifted his arms up and wailed at the sight of his best friend.

"What's going on?" Jimmy asked as he struggled to stand up with the aid of Dani. "What's happening?"

"His powers are going out of control." Tak explained. "He must've activated them somehow when he freaked out about what happened to you."

As Max's powers began to grow in destruction and become hazardous to those nearby. Jimmy called out to him at the top of his lungs, "MAX!" he yelled, cupping his mouth. "IT'S JIMMY! YOU GOTTA CALM DOWN! WE'RE RIGHT HERE! AND SO AM I!"

But like last time, Max didn't respond to the sound of anyone's calls. Max's telekinesis lifted up a metal table and threw it towards the group. Danny and Darry quickly turned those at harm's way intangible. Darry looked toward Max and began running toward him. "We gotta help him!" he said as he ran.

"Darry, wait!" Danny tried to warn.

But as soon as Darry reached the force-field, the minute he ran into it, he received an electric shock and screamed in pain as he was flung backwards to the group.

"Darry!" Tammy and Tommy shouted as they went over to them.

"You okay?" Danny asked as he bent down to him.

But Darry didn't respond and instead grunted as he held the sides of his head. "Jimmy…" Darry muttered. "Please…" his voice began to grow louder. "…help me."

"Darry?" Jimmy asked in confusion. "What are you saying?"

"I'M NOT SCOTTIE, YOU IDIOT!" Darry suddenly shouted in anger and frustration. "WHAT ARE YOU? BLIND?"

Jimmy immediately recognized this anger, and quickly realized that he wasn't talking to Darry, but Max- telepathically through Darry.

"What?" Jimmy asked in shock as he bent down and grabbed Darry's shoulders. "Max? Is that you?"

Darry began to sniffle as if he were about to cry. "Please Jimmy. You gotta help me. I didn't mean to do any of this. I can't stop. So please…help me."

Jimmy narrowed his eyes in determination and responded, "Don't worry, Max. I'll save you no matter what it takes."

Darry suddenly opened his eyes and noticed Jimmy gripping his shoulders. "What are you talking about?" he asked in confusion.

Jimmy stood up and flexed his fingers as he eyed Max trapped within his own powers. "You're gonna use your suit to get through, are you?" Danny realized.

"It's the only way." Jimmy solemnly answered.

"Just promise to come back, okay?" SpongeBob requested with a smile. "Both of you."

Jimmy smiled and nodded, and began walking toward Max. When he reached the force-field, he poked it once and received a small shock on his finger. He shook the electricity off his finger, and the pack of his suit beeped once. He shoved both his gloved-hands through the force-field, and slowly began to tear through the psychic force-field. Once he tore open a hole big enough, he leapt through it before it closed up behind him.

The minute he was inside, a psychic force began to lift him off his feet. Jimmy yelped as he was flung up into the air, but thinking quickly, he grabbed a hold of Max's shoulder.

"Max!" Jimmy called as he gripped to his future son. "Max, it's me, Jimmy!"

"J-J-Jimmy?" Max muttered as Jimmy pulled himself close to Max and wrapped his arms around him.

"It's okay, Max." Jimmy gently said as he held Max closely in embrace. "I'm here. You'll never be alone."

After hearing these words, Max removed his hands from his head as his sadness and despair seemed to settle down. Jimmy and Max descend back to the ground and the force-field disappeared with everything around them becoming still. The Nicktoons ran over to Jimmy and see Max lying in peaceful sleep in Jimmy's arms.

"Jimmy, you did it." Tammy said happily. "Max is okay."

"Yeah…I guess I did." Jimmy said with a worn out smile until his eyes slowly close and he fell back.

Danny and Tak quickly caught him, and Timmy began to franticly shake his shoulders. "Jimmy! Jimmy, can you hear me?" he asked franticly. "Jimmy? JIMMY!"  
>But Jimmy was unresponsive and continued to lie there just as motionless as his future son- if not more. Will his fate be the same as the last time he used his mech-suit to full capacity?<p>

_Oh, don't worry. There's another chapter to go. Do you think Jimmy will die like last time? Please review what you think and watch out for the last chapter._


	20. Chapter 19: A New Future

_And here it is, the last chapter of "Nicktoons: The Final Countdown". Last time, Jimmy passed out after using his Neutronic Mech-Suit to save Max. Will fate be the same as last time?_

_Enjoy…_

Chapter 19: A New Future

Everything was pitch-black at first. But soon a bright light began to shine through, blinding everything as it broke through the darkness. Soon everything became blurry until his sight began to adjust. An unfamiliar ceiling with a light post shining on top was the first thing that was noticed.

Jimmy Neutron's eyes were half-open as soon as he woke up. He noticed that he was lying in bed, and was wearing an oxygen mask on his face. He slowly sat up in the bed and when the covers fell off him, he noticed a bunch of nodes strapped to his bare chest that were connected to a vitals machine next to his bed. It was now apparent to him that he was in the hospital, possibly because he had weakened to unconsciousness after using his Neutronic Mech-Suit.

He was feeling better, so he decided to remove the oxygen mask. But as soon as he did, he coughed and held his throat, now unable to breathe. It took him till now to realize the reason for the oxygen he was breathing in while asleep: he was in the Bikini Bottom hospital, and would probably drown at any minute without air to breathe. This showed when the vitals machine he was attached to began to beep rapidly.

Jimmy struggled to hold his breath, looking around for any sign of oxygen to survive. He noticed on a small table next to him was a piece of his Neutronic Air Gum with a note under it which he quickly read, '_Jimmy: Chew this once you wake up!_' Without a second thought, he stuffed the gum in his mouth and quickly chewed it until he could feel air in his lungs. He exhaled deeply in relief and the vitals machine returned to its normal rhythm.

"Glad to see you're finally awake." A voice rang out. Jimmy turned his head to see Danny Fenton sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, reading a magazine.

"Danny?" Jimmy asked in surprise, wondering how long he'd been there. "What am I doing here? What happened after I used the mech-suit?"

"Not surprised you don't remember much." Danny casually explained as he continued reading the magazine. "After you passed out, we didn't have time to take you anywhere else before you were drained completely. So we brought you here to be treated and rest up. The doctors have been doing a great job keeping you alive."

"Oh." Jimmy said, still feeling unsure, but decided to drop it. "So…where's everyone else?"

Danny looked up from his magazine at Jimmy. "Well, after you used Platform to make DarkEvil LaserPants 'history', Max, SpongeBorg, and SpongeTron returned Platform to Max's dad. And the good thing is that he took it apart so it could never be used by anyone like DarkEvil again."

"That's fantastic." Jimmy said with a smile, but then wondered, "But what about Darry and the kids?"

"Darry, Tammy, and Tommy took all the deactivated SpongeCog robots into the future where they'll be held at Nicktoons HQ and sealed away."

"Okay. That's good."

"And Timmy and Tak have been fixing all the damage caused to our worlds from all that's happened."

"Great." Jimmy replied until he remembered something. "But wait! What about Danielle?"

"She's been staying with SpongeBob this whole time." Danny said contently, while going back to reading his magazine. "She refused to leave until she knew you were alright."

Jimmy felt himself getting flustered, but shook it off. "Wow," he said in amazement. "A lot's happened in a couple hours."

"Hours?" Danny questioned as he looked back at Jimmy in bewilderment. "Jimmy, it's been like four days."

"WHAT?" Jimmy yelled in alarm. "You mean I've been in a coma for four days?"

But Danny suddenly chuckles, "Just kidding." He went back to reading his magazine and nonchalantly added, "Actually…it's been three weeks."

"Th- Th- Three weeks?" Jimmy got a horrified expression and clasped his chest as the vitals machine began beeping rapidly again.

But before he could have a proper heart attack, the door suddenly flung open and Danielle came into the room, stunned to see Jimmy finally awake.

"Jimmy!" Dani shouted with a blissful smile. "You're okay!"

Before Jimmy knew it, Dani rushed over, jumped on top of his bed, and wrapped her arms around him, planting her lips on Jimmy's for a kiss. Jimmy sat there in stun with his face red until Dani finally let go of him.

They both stared at each other in silence until Dani blushed and spoke, "I- I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me."

"I think I do." Jimmy replied, but smiled and placed his hand on the back of her head. "It's something a genius can get used to."

Dani smiled again and moved her forehead close to his. Danny stared at this, but quickly buried his face in the magazine. "Please…Don't mind me." He muttered.

But afterwards, Darry suddenly runs into the room, surprised to see what is going on as the two teens stare at him as well. But Darry just smiles and says, "Jimmy, you're awake." Then he runs back down the hall, shouting, "Guys! Jimmy's finally awake!"

Jimmy stared, dumbfounded, "They're still here?"

"I wasn't the only one waiting for you." Dani mentioned as she got off the bed.

Danny tossed Jimmy his shirt and pants. "You better get dressed and come on out." He suggested as he walked out of the room with Dani. "Everyone's waiting."

* * *

><p>Soon afterwards when Jimmy was dressed, he left the hospital and was greeted by the rest of the Nicktoons and Time Fixers team. The younger children (and SpongeBob) immediately showered him with hugs, happy to see him finally awaken from his three week long coma. While Timmy and Tak just took the "manly" way and pat his shoulders to show how much he worried them, but expressed their joy to see him back on his feet. Max, however, just simply told Jimmy he was glad he was okay.<p>

A couple hours later, the group went to Amity Park as it was unfortunately time for the group to part ways. The first to go was Max and SpongeBorg. Though saying goodbye was much easier said than done. After all they've been through, Max was still ill-tempered as ever, so they all had to choose their choice of words carefully.  
>"We're really gonna miss you, Max." Sam said as she rested her arms affectionately around Danny. "If it hadn't been for you, we would've all been doomed and I never would've got Danny back." Her boyfriend smiled and held her close.<p>

"Sure." Max boredly said. "Whatever."

Timmy sighed and added, "You may have given us a headache since you came, but we really do owe you one."

"Sure."

"No more talking back to people, okay?" Dani added.

"Okay."

"And try to be a little nicer." Tommy bluntly suggested.

Max just rolled his eyes and responded, "Whatever."

"Keep working on your skills, Max." Tammy said with a warm smile. "You got potential just like your father."

Max's eyes seemed to brighten for a quick second, but even if it did, he instantly shook it off and dully responded, "Yeah, fine."

SpongeBorg beeped heartily as he shook SpongeTron's hand and went over to Max, beeping something enthusiastic to him which seemed to stun Max.

"You and SpongeBorg take care of each other, Max." SpongeTron said tenderly until he grinned and boldly shouted, "Because trust me when I say, robots are the best companions you can ever have!"

Max couldn't help but chuckle and say, "Don't worry. I wouldn't give up SpongeBorg for anything."

At long last, Darry stepped forward and gave a small smile to the younger boy. Unlike everyone else, Max didn't seem to know any witty comments to give him like he usually did for Darry. "Scottie…" all he could say.

"It's 'Darry'." Darry corrected, not even losing his friendly smile. "Take care of yourself." He extended his hand out to him. "And be nice to a certain ghost kid in the far future, okay?"

Max stared at it for a few seconds, but ultimately smiled and grabbed his hand, returning with a handshake.

He then glanced over at Jimmy in the group, but remained silent and didn't acknowledge him. SpongeBorg walked over to him and held out a Recaller. Max nodded and walked away with him, prepared to leave. But when SpongeBorg was about to activate the device, Max's face scrunched up and he ran back.

"Jimmy!" Max cried as he ran through the group and clutched onto Jimmy's legs, much to the genius's shock. "I can't go back!" he shouted as he cried in tears. "I'll miss you! You're the best friend I ever had."

Jimmy stood there in shock as he stared down at Max clutch and cry on him with probably the most genuine tears since he first met him.

"I'm sorry about everything I said before." Max continued saying as he still clutched Jimmy's leg. "I'm not really like that. It's just that when you have powers like mine…"

But Jimmy just knelt down to him and held his shoulders. "It's okay, Max. I understand." He said warmly with a smile.

Without warning, Max suddenly jumped onto Jimmy and hugged him tightly. "I love you." He told Jimmy. "…Dad."

Hearing Max call him that for the first time, Jimmy returned his hug and replied, "I love you too, Max."

Afterwards, Max finally let go and ran back over to SpongeBorg, who activated the Recaller and created a portal that would take them back home. SpongeBorg grabbed Max's hand, and Max looked back at the group one last time and smiled before walking into the portal.

After the portal disappeared, everyone stood there in silence, especially Jimmy, who no one could tell what he was feeling right now. Dani then decided to break the silence by confronting Jimmy. "Are you okay, Jimmy?" she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

But Jimmy suddenly turned to the group with a happy smile. "Of course I am." He answered merrily. "Why wouldn't I be?"

They were happy to see Jimmy back to his old self even with Max now back home. Danny turned to the Time Fixers and asked, "So I guess this means you'll be going back home too?"

"Yeah," Darry answered with a nod. "Our parents are expecting us back right now."

"Well, we just want to thank you for everything." Jimmy said as he held his hand out. "We couldn't have done it without all of you."

"Same here." Darry responded as he shook Jimmy's hand.

The future Nicktoons then said their goodbyes to their friends, and SpongeTron created a portal that would take them back to their time period. Once the portal disappeared and the Time Fixers were gone. Sam put her arm around Dani and began to lead her away.

"Come on, Danielle." Sam said as the two walked away. "We better leave the guys alone."

"No kidding." Dani replied with a giggle.

Once the girls were gone, Jimmy turned to his teammates with a sheepish chuckle. "So…some week this turned out to be- or month I should say." He corrected after remembering he had been unconscious during the week he was talking about.

"Yeah," Danny agreed as he sat on the front steps of Fenton Works. "I never thought that after all these years; this is how we'd reunite."

"Of course it is." Timmy pointed out. "We're Nicktoons after all." He turned to Jimmy. "We're still Nicktoons, right?"

Jimmy stood there silently for a moment until he gave a small smile and answered, "Yeah…we are right now." But then he sadly frowned, "Unless you remember that we broke up."

"It's funny though." Tak began to speak up. "We broke up for the same reason we got back together. We won before and we won again. But would it really make sense to break up again even after all we went through?"

"That's right." SpongeBob agreed. "We're still a great team. We did the impossible and beat DarkEvil LaserPants, we even saved the future and saved a little kid's life." He slumped. "We can't break up now."

Jimmy seemed lost for words until Danny spoke up, "Cut it out, guys. You're putting enough pressure on him as it is." he smiled. "Look, even if we stay broken up, it wouldn't matter. We're still a great team whether we're together or not. Even if we don't see each other anymore, we can't hang out or fight side by side, we'll still have the memories of when we did; and as long as we have those, we'll never really break up."

Timmy, Tak, and SpongeBob thought over this and soon smiled and agreed to Danny's true words. Jimmy was happy to hear this as well, until the moment was broken by the sounds of their Recallers beeping on and off. Jimmy looked at his Recaller and said, "Looks like there's trouble downtown. Undergrowth is at it again."

"Well…" Danny said as he stood up and changed into ghost form. "Guess that's my call to answer."

As he was about to leave, Jimmy grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Wait." Danny turned to Jimmy, who looked up at him with a smirk, "Think you can use some help with this one?"

Timmy, Tak, and SpongeBob look surprised by this, but smile, and Danny crosses his arms and smiles as well, "One last mission, guys?"

Jimmy takes out his tornado blaster and quips, "Nicktoons…let's unite."

* * *

><p>In the Ghost Zone, Clockwork was watching the whole event through his time portal and smiles as he sees everything unfold.<p>

Darry peeks over him just as Clockwork morphs into an old man and becomes annoyed. "That's my dad!" Darry points out excitedly. "You should've seen us together. We were unstoppable!"

"I did see you together." Clockwork dully pointed out. "I see everything."

SpongeTron puts his hands on his hips and stands proudly. "I guess this is another job well done."

"Ain't that the truth." Tommy says, looking exhausted. "All I want to do now is go home and lie in bed and play mindless video games all day."

"Jimmy said he'd be here any minute to pick us up." Tammy pointed up until she sighed with a smile. "I actually got to see the moment when he started getting taller."

Tommy rolls his eyes and slaps his forehead.

"Hey kids." Jimmy said as he walked inside with baby Max in his arms. "Ready to go? We've been waiting for you."

Max giggles as Darry spots him and runs over. "Max!" he called out as he grabbed the baby and hugged him. "You don't know how happy I am to see you…in diapers!"

Max stares at him with a confused look, but Darry holds him out and says, "Can you say 'Darry'?"

"Goo!" Max babbled as he looked at Darry.

"No, no. Dare-ree."

"Dah…" Max struggled to say. "…wee."

"Close, but no."

Tammy, Tommy, and SpongeTron walk past him as they follow Jimmy to the Specter Speeder. "Let's get going already." Tommy urged. "Darrel Scott Fenton."

Tommy laughed, but not until Max repeated, "Scorry."

"No, no, no!" Darry groaned in frustration. "It's Darry! You don't learn that soon, you might end calling me that for the rest of your life."

Max hugged him happily while Darry just sighed with a smile. "Well…no matter what you call me- or what you become, we can still be friends. Besides, I still have ten more years to teach you how to say my real name. I'll keep at it even if takes twenty."

As Darry carried Max out of Clockwork's realm, to join his friends in going home, Max rested his head on Darry's shoulder and closed his eyes, "Darry.."

**The End**

_And that's the end of the story. The present and future is saved once and for all. Please tell me what you thought of the chapter and the story in general. And thank you for reading, and be sure to check out all my other works if you're interested._


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